The Court upheld the principle that long-serving employees are entitled to regularization of service and benefits as stipulated in previous orders.

(Judgment of the Court was delivered by R.Suresh Kumar J.)

This intra court appeal has been directed against the order passed by the Writ Court dated 19.11.2024 made in W.P.No.18079 of 2019.

2. The respondent / writ petitioner was working as Plot Watcher in the Denkanikottai Forest Range and he was initially appointed on 01.09.1997. Since then he had been continuously working in the same Range for 22 years. The Government came out with a Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.64, Environment and Forest (FR2) Department dated 08.03.1999 for preparation of statewide seniority for all Social Forestry Workers and Plot Watchers for the purpose of regularisation. Thereafter, G.O.Ms.No.95, Environment and Forest (FR.2) Department dated 07.08.2009 was issued for regularising their services. However, in those Government Orders, only 3050 plot watchers were brought under time scale of pay. Insofar as the respondent / writ petitioner is concerned, such a gesture has not been shown. Therefore, he approached the authorities to seek for such a benefit, which had been rejected through order dated 29.10.2018, which was impugned before the Writ Court.

3. Considering the earlier orders passed in this regard, especially in the case of M.Dhanraj Vs. Government of Tamil Nadu rep.by its Secretary and two others dated 20.09.2023, the Writ Court allowed the said writ petition directing the employer to regularise the services of the respondent / writ petitioner with effect from his initial date of joining ie., 01.09.1997, by conferment of service benefits within the time stipulated by the Court.

4. Aggrieved over the same though this writ appeal has been filed, even at the admission it is brought to our notice that, before the appeal is moved, the State Government has come forward to implement the order passed by the Writ Court, which is impugned herein.

5. In this regard, the Government issued G.O (2D) No.65, Environment, Climate Change and Forests-FR 2(ii) Department dated 21.04.2025, whereby the Government had permitted the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to regularise the services of the respondent / writ petitioner M.Karunanidhi in the post of Forest Watcher with effect from 01.09.1997 along with monetary and service benefits subject to the outcome of the writ appeal or any other legal proceedings.

6. Learned Additional Advocate General submits that, subject to the outcome is nothing but the present writ appeal. We are not impressed with the said submission made by the learned Additional Advocate General for the simple reason that, the issue regularisation of Plot Watchers who have rendered more than two decades of service is no more res integra as number of orders have been passed by this Court and the Government itself has come forward with the above referred Government Order, whereby more than 3000 such plot watchers have been brought under time scale of pay and by creating supernumerary posts, they have been regularised from the date of their initial appointment.

7. When that being so, the present petitioner alone cannot be singled out.

Therefore, the benefit accrued on him since has been denied, the learned Writ Court since has rightly interfered with the same we do not propose to interfere with the said approach and conclusion reached by the Writ Court, apart from the order having been complied with by issuance of the Government Order.

8. Therefore, for all these reasons the present appeal deserves to be rejected.

Accordingly it is dismissed. As per G.O (2D) No.65, Environment, Climate Change and Forests-FR 2(ii) Department dated 21.04.2025, the Government permitted the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to regularise the services of the writ petitioner from the date of his initial appointment in the year 1