Government school teachers sought quashing of a government order denying advance increments for higher qualifications acquired before 10.03.2020 but not sanctioned in time, claiming discriminatory classification. The court upheld the new lumpsum incentive scheme, holding petitioners entitled only to lumpsum amounts, and dismissed the writ petition.
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W.P.No.1659 of 2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 30.01.2024
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN
W.P.No.1659 of 2024 and WMP.Nos.1694 & 1696 of 2024
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97 S.SATHYA 98 T SATHYA 99 R.SAVITHA 100 S.SAVITHAMARY ....Petitioners Versus
1.The State of Tamilnadu, Rep. by its Chief Secretary to Government, Human Resources Management(FR.IV) Department, Fort St.George, Chennai 600 009 2.The State of Tamilnadu, Rep. by its Secretary to Government, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, Fort St.George, Chennai 600 009 3.The Director, Tamilnadu Government Audit Department, No.571, Officers Building, Veterinary Hospital Campus, 4th Floor, Anna Salai, Nandanam, Chennai 600 035 4.The Joint Director(Personnel), School Education Department, DPI Complex, College Road, Chennai 600 006 Respondents
PRAYER: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of Constitution of India p raying to issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus calling for the records of the 1st Respondent in G.O.Ms.No. 95 Human Resources Management (FR-IV) Department dated 26.10.2023 and quash the same in so far as the said government order has in paras 7 and 8 made an unreasonable classification violative of Article 14 of the Constitution between claims for additional incentive for having acquired the additional
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qualification prior to 10.03.2023 which are pending or not made as on 10.03.2020 being the date of G.O.Ms.No.37 Personnel and Administrative Reforms (FR-VI) Department and claims for additional incentive which have already been processed and sanctioned prior to 10.03.2020 will be continued to receive incentive in the salary and consequently direct the first respondent to grant the 1st and 2nd incentive, as the case may be, for the petitioners who have acquired additional qualification prior to 10.03.2020 and are eligible for sanction of increment in their salary.
For Petitioners : Mrs.Nalini Chidambaram, Senior Counsel for M/s.C.Uma
For Respondents : Dr.T.Seenivasan, Special Government Pleader
ORDER
This writ petition has been filed challenging the Government
Order in G.O.Ms.No. 95 Human Resources Management (FR-IV) Department dated 26.10.2023 passed by the first respondent.
additional qualification for sanction of advance incentive prior to
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10.03.2020. While some of the applications which have been filed by the Government servants prior to 10.03.2020 for sanction of incentive, were processed expeditiously and additional incentive was sanctioned to them, the applications filed by certain Government servants like the Petitioners, who had acquired the additional qualification for grant of 2nd incentive or the 1st incentive, as the case may be, prior to 10.03.2020, were kept pending and not processed before 10.03.2020 due to administrative reasons or belated claims by the individuals. Based on the earlier policy to grant incentive for higher qualifications, the Petitioners worked hard and acquired higher qualification. In fact, the higher qualification acquired by the petitioners would help them in improving their teaching method.
2.1 The further case of the petitioners is that under G.O.Ms.No.95, Human Resources Management Department dated
26.10.2023, Government servants who acquired higher qualification after 26.10.2023 and Government servants who acquired higher qualification prior to 10.03.2020 being the date of G.O.Ms.No. 37 but not sanctioned
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due to various administrative reasons are treated equally resulting in unequals being treated equally violating Article 14 of the Constitution. The Government servants who have acquired the higher qualification prior to 10.03.2020 should be treated separately and incentives in their salary should be sanctioned.
2.2 The further case of the petitioners is that there are many cases where the higher qualifications for higher qualification were acquired prior to 10.03.2020 being the dated of G.O.Ms.No. 37 Personal and Administrative Reforms Department additional incentives have been sanctioned without any objections from the audit department like in the case of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department. As per the G.O.Ms.No.116 Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department dated 15.10.2020, clarifications of the cancellation of the Scheme of sanction of advance increment in all departments issued. As such, the cases of Government Servants who have acquired higher qualification prior to the date of issue of the Government order 1st read above and not sanctioned with advance increment/not applied for sanction of advance
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(Ms) No. 37, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (FR-IV) department,
dated 10.03.2020, it has clearly been mentioned as follows:-
"The cases of Government servants who have acquired higher qualification prior to issue of this general order, and not sanctioned with advance increments be examined separately as per the previous orders issued, if any, by the administrative department concerned and with reference to the posts specified in that order and if he is otherwise qualified, then the advance increment may be sanctioned by the administrative department concerned after obtaining concurrence of Finance department. If no previous orders were issued by any of the department concerned, then they are not eligible for sanction of any advance
W.P.No.1659 of 2024
increments for passing higher qualification irrespective of the post held/degree acquired."
P&AR (FRIV) Dept., dated 15.10.2020 i.e., the cases of Government Servants who have acquired higher qualification prior to the date of issue of G.O. (Ms) No. 37, P&AR Dept., dated 10.03.2020 and appropriate orders to be issued before 31.03.2021. Based on the orders issued in G.O. (Ms) No.116, P&AR (FRIV) Dept., dated 15.10.2020, the cut off date for granting advance increment who have acquired higher qualification prior to 10.03.2020 has been extended from 10.03.2020 to 31.03.2021. Further, on exemption basis, all the pending claims have been allowed until the orders issued in G.O. (Ms) No. 95, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (FR-IV) Department, dated 26.10.2023.
Servants a new policy has been adopted on the analogy of Government of India and orders have been issued in G.O.Ms.No.120, Human Resources Management (FR-IV) Department, dated 01.11.2021, for granting
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incentive in the form of one-time lumpsum amount to the State Government Employees for having acquired additional qualification after 10.03.2020 as follows:-
| Sl.No. | Higher Qualification | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ph.D | 25,000/- |
| 2. | PG Degree or equivalent | 20,000/- |
| 3. | Degree/Diploma | 10,000/- |
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advance increment till date.
30.01.2024 Internet: Yes (2/2) Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order lok
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To
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G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN, J.
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W.P.No.1659 of 2024
30.01.2024
1 issue framed by the court
Whether denial of advance increments to government servants who acquired higher qualifications before 10.03.2020 but whose claims were pending, while treating them on par with later claimants under th
2 provisions across 1 enactments
K.Selvaraj
S.Savithamary
The State of Tamilnadu, Rep. by its Chief Secretary to Government, Human Resources Management (FR-IV) Department
The State of Tamilnadu, Rep. by its Secretary to Government, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department
The Director, Tamilnadu Government Audit Department
The Joint Director (Personnel), School Education Department
G.K.Ilanthiraiyan
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
