" 19. Going through the issue, this Court pointed out that on no fault of the petitioners but on account of administrative reasons, the petitioners could not complete their service qualification to serve in the category of Rural Welfare Officer Grade I. It was pointed out that even though the petitioners had been in service as Junior Assistant with effect from 1991 and in the post of Rural Welfare Officer Grade I, the petitioners were not considered for further promotion on account of the non-completion of the service requirements. This Court held that when the petitioners had successfully completed the departmental examinations, the petitioner cannot be denied inclusion in the panel on the ground that they did not possess the service qualification – an area which was purely in the hands of the respondents. Referring to the order of this Court dated 9.10.2006 in W.P.No.18501 of 2006 (C.Periasamy and another Vs. The District Collector, Dharmapuri) holding that service qualification cannot be equated to a pass in the departmental test, this Court held: "While the pass in a departmental test may be in the hands of the individual, the posting of the individual to a particular post is not within the hands of the individual." In the circumstances, this Court held that the respondents should have formulated and implemented a policy providing equal opportunity to all persons to acquire the service qualifications. This Court pointed out that but for the belated regularisation in 1996, the petitioner would have undergone the foundation training in Bhavani Sagar Training Institute, the petitioners were not at fault, they should not have been omitted to be included in the panel. "
