BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 17.03.2026 CORAM THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MUMMINENI SUDHEER KUMAR P.Kathiresan ... Petitioner Vs.

1.The Secretary to Government, School Education Department, Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009.

2.The Director of Elementary Education, DPI Complex, College Road, Chennai - 600 006. ... Respondents Prayer : Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the first respondent i.e., the Secretary to Government, School Education Department, Chennai to implement the orders passed in W.P.(MD) No.10073 of 2014 dated 27.07.2015 in respect of the petitioner also which were also implemented in respect of others in G.O.(Perm) No.23, School Education (E.E.1(1)) Department dated 02.12.2022, within a specified time frame that may be fixed by this Court.

For Petitioner : Mr.S.Visvalingam For Respondents : Mr.N.Satheesh Kumar Additional Government Pleader ******

O R D E R

The petitioner herein, who was initially appointed as a Secondary Grade Teacher on 04.01.1982, was promoted to the post of Middle School Headmaster on 04.06.1986 and continued in the said post. He ultimately retired from service as an Assistant Elementary Education Officer in Madurai District on 31.10.2010.

2. Thereafter, the petitioner came to know that certain other teachers, who had worked as Secondary Grade Teachers and were subsequently promoted as Primary School Headmasters and thereafter as Middle School Headmasters, had made claims for the grant of Selection Grade and Special Grade by taking into account the services rendered by them in the posts of Secondary Grade Teacher and Primary School Headmaster. Those teachers succeeded before the Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal and this Court. Accordingly, G.O.Ms.No.210, School Education Department, dated 14.08.2009, was issued granting Selection Grade and Special Grade to the said persons.

3. The said Government Order was issued in the light of various orders passed by the Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal and this Court, taking into consideration the factual circumstances prevailing in those cases. In those matters, the cut-off date was fixed as 01.06.1988. A Middle School Headmaster who had completed 10 years of service, including the service rendered as a Secondary Grade Teacher and Primary School Headmaster as on 01.06.1988, was extended the benefit of Selection Grade.

4. Following the same, other similarly placed persons also made claims for extension of identical benefits on par with those who had been benefited under G.O.Ms.No.210, School Education Department, dated 14.08.2009. Accordingly, several Government Orders have been issued extending such benefits to other similarly placed persons. The petitioner is also claiming the said benefit.

5. As stated above, in those matters, the cut-off date was fixed as

01.06.1988 and a Middle School Headmaster who had completed 10 years of service, including the service rendered as a Secondary Grade Teacher and Primary School Headmaster as on the said date, was extended the benefit of Selection Grade.

6. However, in the instant case, the petitioner, who was appointed as a Secondary Grade Teacher on 04.01.1982, was promoted to the post of Middle School Headmaster on 04.06.1986 and continued as such till 23.10.1996 and was thereafter promoted as Assistant Elementary Education Officer. Even by taking into account the entire service rendered by the petitioner from the date of his initial appointment as Secondary Grade Teacher, the petitioner does not fulfil the requirement of completing 10 years of service so as to be eligible for grant of Selection Grade as on 01.06.1988.

7. In the light of the above, this Court is of the view that the petitioner’s claim, by comparing himself with other teachers who had completed 10 years of service as on 01.06.1988, cannot be granted. Insofar as the other ground raised in this Writ Petition, by placing reliance on the order passed by this Court i