Disposed

S.Udhayakumar v. Union of India

Madras HC22 Mar 2018WP(MD)/1627/2018

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The Madurai Bench held that scheme appointees have no claim to regularization but can continue in post during the scheme's duration. The Court banned artificial breaks in service and directed the Government to disburse statutory benefits and increments, but refused past arrears.

What did the court decide?

Ban on artificial breaks; entitlement to future increments and benefits only; no regularization or past arrears.

S.Udhayakumar Vs Union of India — Service and Employment | Madras HC (2018)

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BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

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DATED: 22.03.2018

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CORAM:

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THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.R.SWAMINATHAN

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W.P.(MD)Nos.1627/2018 & 17713/2017, 3790 & 5017 of 2018 and W.M.P.(MD).Nos.1718 to 1721 of 2018, 14265 to 14267, 5232 & 5233 of 2018, 3819 of 2018, 3934 to 3937 of 2018 & 5003 to 5007 of 2018

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1.S.Udhayakumar 2.P.Mariraj 3.S.Rajesh 4.K.Muthuraj 5.C.Suresh 6.R.Veerapandi 7.P.Sasikumar 8.M.Narayanan 9.R.Lakshminarayanan 10.P.Ganesh Prabhu 11.R.Arunkumar 12.A.Balakannan 13.V.Muthukaruppan 14.R.John Pandiyan 15.I.Muthuselvi 16.J.Yoga Priya 17.M.Sudha Chandra 18.P.Jophi Manjula 19.R.Prema 20.M.Muneeswari 21.P.Mallappan 22.T.Marimuthu 23.K.Perumal Samy 24.S.Ganesh Kumar 25.S.Latha 26.R.Prabhu 27.K.Vanaja 28.P.Arun kumar 29.P.Thanani 30.V.G.Jaikrishnan 31.A.Paulraj 32.S.Padmavathi 33.G.Sakthivel 34.P.Suhirtha 35.T.Kannan 36.N.Kamalakannan https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 37.R.Indhumathi 38.S.Sivasangari

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39.V.Palaniyappan 40.A.Rajesh Kumar 41.K.Rajendran 42.C.Sekar 43.P.Premkumar 44.D.Kumaravel 45.S.Pandeeswaran 46.A.Chandiramohan 47.S.Kamal 48.M.Santhosam 49.T.Jeyasankar 50.G.Thilagavathi 51.G.Sankar 52.A.Shelly Rajkumar 53.N.Krishnasamy 54.G.Paneer Selvam 55.K.Jothimani 56.K.Selvam 57.V.Natarajan 58.M.Raja 59.M.Giruba 60.T.Selvakannan 61.N.Sakthivel 62.N.Hemalatha 63.M.Karthikeyan 64.C.Prabhu 65.S.Bharathi 66.S.Geetha 67.S.Divagar 68.A.Rajathi 69.P.Vinothini 70.L.Dhineshwaran 71.N.Sankarganesh 72.R.Subatra 73.S.Preethi 74.V.S.Thiruvarangaraj 75.P.Thiyagarajan 76.M.Anburaj 77.L.Ganga 78.D.Vijayakumar 79.P.Prabakaran 80.A.Pradeep Kumar 81.T.Sivakumar 82.E.Mani 83.K.Sengottaiyan 84.K.R.Samyuktha 85.G.Arunkumar 86.P.Mohanasundaram 87.M.Gnanasekaran 88.C.Vijayakumar https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 89.R.Gunavathi Devi 90.M.Boopathi

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91.P.Sathishkumar 92.P.Manohar 93.P.Devaraj ... Petitioners in W.P.(MD).No.1627 of 2018 1.L.Settu 2.B.Ponraj 3.R.Vasudevan 4.N.Dhanasekharan 5.N.Ilayaraj 6.A.Tamil Selvan ... Petitioners in W.P.(MD).No.17713 of 2017 1.K.Sakthi Vadivelavan 2.S.Sankaranarayanan 3.M.Selvakumar 4.N.Stalin Rangaraj 5.V.Rajagurunathan 6.M.Anantham 7.A.Inbaraja 8.K.Ganesan 9.M.Sivakumar 10.M.Dankai 11.C.Kumar 12.S.Thirumalaipandiyan 13.R.Chandran 14.M.Thangasaravanan 15.R.Chandran 16.S.Muthuraja 17.A.Eelavemi 18.J.Joypadmadinesh 19.M.Pushbamari 20.G.Rajamani 21.S.Buvanesh 22.R.Essakimuthupandian 23.V.Ganesan 24.E.Pradeepdevadash 25.H.Sujith 26.M.Subramanian 27.S.Uikattudass 28.C.Thirisulam 29.K.Mariselvam 30.P.Anbalagan 31.S.Subha 32.M.Sathankumar 33.D.Pradeepsamuveldennison 34.D.Pradeepgamalin 35.E.Kumar 36.M.Sivakumar 37.V.Jayamurugan 38.M.Sathishkumar 39.A.Nambi https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 40.A.Balasubramanian 41.E.Muruganantham

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42.T.Sariha 43.S.Subha 44.R.Amini

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45.J.Justin Kingston

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46.S.Sudalaimuthu 47.S.Nagarajan 48.M.Sakunthaladevi 49.T.Stanly 50.E.Ponaasir 51.S.Selvaganesh 52.B.Esaipriya 53.K.Prathapsingh 54.M.Sriiyappan 55.A.Karthikeyan 56.C.Mariraj 57.P.Rajkumar 58.M.Tamilselvi 59.N.Selvi 60.K.Duraiarasu 61.V.Chakkaravarthy 62.C.Saraswathi 63.L.M.Sivakumar 64.G.Gomathi 65.P.Lakshmi 66.G.Kiruthiga 67.M.Santhakumari 68.K.Sarathi 69.A.Srinath 70.M.Hemanthkumar 71.S.Suguna 72.K.Vetrivel 73.M.Parvathi 74.M.Kavitha 75.P.Shanmugam 76.D.Rajkumar 77.B.Palanisamy 78.M.Murali 79.S.Duraisamy 80.U.Sathiaprabha 81.G.Pandurangan 82.J.Saravanan 83.M.Ramesh 84.R.Chandrasekaran 85.M.Kalaiyarasi 86.M.Suresh 87.K.R.Soneya 88.M.Thiyagarajan 89.M.Vigneshwari 90.R.Thierka Priya 91.M.Nanthini https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 92.S.Sridharan 93.M.Parthipan

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94.P.Ramakrishnan 95.N.Raveena 96.L.Priyanka 97.A.Deveka 98.V.Vignesh 99.P.Vasuki 100.M.Maneka 101.R.Kavisankar 102.V.Manikandan 103.R.Saravana selvan 104.S.Veeramani 105.A.Arunraj 106.K.Kannan 107.P.Elangovan 108.D.Anantha Selvi 109.C.Balasubramanian 110.K.Manikandan 111.V.Soundarrajan 112.S.Umamaheswari 113.V.S.Thangadurai ...Petitioners in W.P.(MD).No.3790 of 2018 1.Rajendran 2.Marimuthu 3.P.Velmurugan 4.Socratesh Pandi 5.P.Kannan 6.Latha 7.Moovendhiran 8.Saravana Kumar 9.G.Ramakrishnan 10.Surendran 11.M.Alagar 12.Maruthu Pandidurai 13.P.Soundararajan 14.P.Raj Kumar 15.Geetha 16.R.Vinoth Kumar 17.S.Thirumavalavan 18.S.Venkatesan 19.A.Suganya 20.M.Bhargavi 21.S.Tamilarasi 22.T.Hari Priya 23.E.Sathish 24.V.Vinoth Kumar 25.A.Vimal Kumar 26.V.Nirmala Devi 27.D.Venkatesan 28.P.Sarath kumar 29.S.Bharathi https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 30.V.H.Hemanth Kumar 31.V.Govindarasu

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32.H.Udhayakumar 33.P.Manigandan 34.S.Krishnaraj 35.M.Lokesh 36.T.Gokulakrishnan 37.P.Nivetha 38.M.Sasikala 39.S.Bakiyaraj 40.M.Rajendiran 41.P.G.Amerendiran 42.K.Rajesh 43.S.Tamil Selvi 44.R.Dhamodharan 45.V.Arun kumar 46.B.Gopalakrishnan 47.M.Santhalakshmi 48.Y.Bernad 49.R.Siva kumar 50.S.Poovin Kumar 51.D.Thinagaran 52.V.Vidhya 53.R.Vimal Kumar 54.P.Meryvenus 55.K.Velu 56.S.Renganayaki 57.A.Anbarasu 58.P.Kumar 59.J.Anbarasi 60.K.Umamaheshwari 61.K.S.Sarath Babu 62.R.Lokesh 63.K.Praveen Kumar 64.M.Maniyarasu 65.V.Poonguzhali 66.S.Venkatesan 67.B.Mobesh Murugan 68.R.Srinivasa Kumar 69.S.Sakthivel 70.K.Sowndari 71.R.Rajesh Kumar 72.C.Jayaprakash 73.Mr.G.Mohansundaram 74.S.Sudha 75.A.Kavitha 76.R.Sivaperumal 77.P.Narayanan 78.S.Senthilkumar 79.Sambasivam.S 80.R.Simon 81.C.Devi https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 82.J.Jayasudha 83.G.Veerasami

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84.K.Manimegalai 85.V.Sivaprakasam 86.M.Sundar 87.R.Jeyashree 88.P.Govindhasamy 89.G.Satheesh 90.V.Thenmozhi 91.K.Devadass 92.P.Natarajan 93.R.Arulbabu 94.K.Pari 95.G.Jayanthi 96.C.Mahendran 97.B.Palanikumaran 98.K.Muthulashmi 99.S.Sivanantham 100.S.Arivazhagu Murugan 101.A.Usha 102.R.TamilSelvi 103.B.Elangovan 104.T.Anbu 105.M.Sittibabu 106.R.Manju 107.K.Chandrasekar 108.S.Pavithra 109.E.Rajalashmi 110.E.Sridevi 111.S.Satarji 112.K.Manivel 113.V.Ravi 114.P.Sakthivel 115.M.Mary ananthi 116.K.Ayyappan 117.P.Mathiyalagan 118.A.Sanjai Gandhi 119.R.Jayanthi 120.R.Ragu 121.S.Subash Chandra Bose 122.S.Jayaganesh 123.K.Ayyanar 124.V.Narasimmaraj 125.K.Vignesh 126.C.Kalpana 127.K.Mathivanan 128.E.Rajavel 129.D.Manoj 130.J.Muthusamy 131.M.Sellamuthu 132.B.Kumaresan 133.D.Saravanan https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 134.M.Devendiran 135.C.Ramesh

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136.V.Prakash 137.K.Dhandapani 138.T.Kathirkaman 139.V.Balamurugan 140.B.Ramesh 141.R.Priyarani 142.V.Azhagumathi 143.E.Vasumathi 144.B.Panjamoorthy 145.P.Kamalanathan 146.G.Kalaivanan 147.S.Veerasami 148.E.Santhana Krishnan 149.T.Ilayaraja 150.P.K.Bakkiyaraj 151.P.Neelagandan 152.R.Saravanan 153.T.Dhanalakshmi ...Petitioners in W.P.(MD).No.5017 of 2018

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-Vs-

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1.Union of India, Represented by its Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001.

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2.The State of Tamil Nadu, Represented by its Agricultural Production Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Government, Agriculture Department, Fort.St.George, Secretariat, Chennai-9.

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3.The State of Tamil Nadu, Represented by its Principal Secretary, Finance Department, Fort St.George, Secretariat, Chennai-9.

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4.The Director of Agriculture, O/o. the Director of Agriculture, Chennai-5.

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5.The Principal Accountant General, O/o. the Principal Accountant General, Chennai-18. ...Respondents in all Petitions

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COMMON PRAYER:Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the records pertaining to the impugned Government order in G.O.(D).No.171 Agriculture (AP1) Department dated 19.06.2017 on the file of the respondent No.2 and https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ quash the same as illegal and consequently for a direction, directing the respondents to disburse the arrears of salary of the

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petitioner for the period from 01.04.2014 to 22.11.2016 along with interest and to regularize the services of the petitioners in the post of Assistant Agricultural Officers, Agricultural Officers based on their qualification and to grant 10% enhancement in the salary annually, leave benefits within the time period stipulated by this Court.

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For Petitioners : Mr.T.Lajapathi Roy in all Petitions For R1 : Mr.J.Jeyakumaran, CGC in W.P.(MD).No.1627 of 2018 For R1 : Mr.D.Saravanan Government Advocate in W.P.(MD).No.17713 of 2017 For R1 : Mr.J.Jeyakumaran, CGC in W.P.(MD).No.3790 of 2018 For R1 : Mrs.L.Victoria Gowri Standing counsel in W.P.(MD).No.5017 of 2018 In all WPs For R2 to R4 : Mrs.S.Srimathy Special Government Pleader For R5 : Mr.P.Gunasekaran

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COMMON ORDER

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Heard the learned counsel on either side.

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2.The petitioners in all these Writ Petitions were appointed by ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency). Except one petitioner, the rest of them have been appointed either as Assistant Technology Manager or as Block Technology Manager. One petitioner alone has been appointed as Computer Programmer. It is not in dispute that all the appointments are contractual in nature. They have been appointed on various dates right from the year 2012 onwards. They have been terminated on the expiry of eleven months and after an artificial break, engaged again. Apprehending that they may be ousted, following the issuance of G.O.(Ms).No.171, Agriculture (AP1) Department, dated 19.06.2017, these Writ Petitions came to be filed.

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3.This Court while entertaining these Writ Petitions granted interim order in favour of the Writ petitioners. Now the Government has filed a petition to vacate the interim stay earlier granted by this Court.

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4.The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners drew the attention of this Court to paragraph No.4 of the impugned Government Order. It is not in dispute that the scheme is funded both by the Central Government as well as the State Government. By the https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ impugned Government Order, permission has been accorded for diverting and utilising the unspent arrears amount of

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Rs.25.82 Crores for implementation of other extension activities, as approved in the State Extension Work Plan (SWEP) of support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms Scheme (SSEPERS-ATMA) as mentioned in the Annexure to this order during the year 2017-2018.

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5.The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners expressed his anxiety that if the amount that was earmarked for supporting ATMA Schemes is diverted, the source of funding would turn dry and there would be no money to even to pay the salary for the petitioners.

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6.The learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the State Government submitted that there is no proposal to oust the petitioners. She also would contend that it is not for the writ petitioners to raise questions as to the mode of spending by the Government. She submitted that what is contemplated by the Government Order is only a diversion of funds for supporting other activities under the very same scheme.

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7.This Court finds considerable force in the aforesaid submission of the learned Special Government Pleader for the State Government. This is not a Public Interest Litigation. The petitioners rights have not been shown to be infringed in any manner by issuance of the impugned Government order made in these Writ Petitions. The order impugned in these Writ Petitions are therefore, sustained. But then the Writ Petitions cannot be closed with this. During the course of arguments, the learned Special Government Pleader supported the artificial break in the services of the writ petitioners. Hence this Court issues the following directions:-

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(i).It is made clear that the scheme appointees could have no claim for regularisation. But then so long as the scheme continues, subject to one being fit and not found guilty of any misconduct, the scheme appointee can continue in the said post so long as the scheme is in force.

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(ii).The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the decision reported in 1985 4 SCC 43-(Rattan Lal & Others Vs. State of Haryana & Others), deplored the practice of giving artificial break in service. The state Government is expected to function as a model employer. This proposition continues to hold good even in this age of liberalisation and globalisation. The aforesaid judgment was relied on in the subsequent Full Bench decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in (1991) 2 SCC 599-(Sri Rabinarayan Mohapatra Vs. State of Orissa and others). The very same principle has been reiterated in yet another decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in (2009) 6 SCC 611-(MD.Abdul Kadir & Another Vs. Director General of Police, Assam & others). Therefore, it cannot lie in the mouth of the State Government to now contend that they are entitled https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ to terminate the services of the contractual employee on the expiry of the 11th month and give artificial break after which engage them

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again. This Court makes it clear that the practice of giving artificial breaks shall be discontinued henceforth. The benefits payable to the petitioners/Scheme appointees in terms of the scheme norms, shall be disbursed. In view of the comprehensive nature of the relief given to the petitioners herein, there shall be of no claim for payment of past arrears. However, as regards the future, it is undertaken by the Government that the periodical/annual increment will be given effect in terms of the scheme regulations.

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8.These Writ Petitions are disposed of in terms of the directions set out above. No costs. Consequently, the connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.

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Sd/Assistant Registrar(RTI)

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/True Copy/

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Sub Assistant Registrar

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1.The Secretary, Union of India, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001.

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2.The Agricultural Production Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Government, State of Tamil Nadu, Agriculture Department, Fort.St.George, Secretariat, Chennai-9. 3.The Principal Secretary, The State of Tamil Nadu, Finance Department, Fort St.George, Secretariat, Chennai-9. 4.The Director of Agriculture, O/o. the Director of Agriculture, Chennai-5. 5.The Principal Accountant General, O/o. the Principal Accountant General, Chennai-18. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/

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+4ccs to M/S.T.Lajapathi Roy, Advocate SR.No. 57395 to 57398

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+1cc to M/S.D.Saravanan, Advocate SR.No. 57178

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