Staff Reporter
He was working in a school for 26 years
The court issues direction to sanction a post to accommodate the petitioner within three weeks
MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has pulled up officials for not regularising the service of a night watchman who has been working on contingency basis for the last 26 years at a panchayat union high school in Tirunelveli district.
Allowing a writ petition filed by him to regularise his services, Justice K. Chandru directed the Director of Rural Development to sanction a post to accommodate the petitioner within three weeks. Thereafter, the Collector shall regularise the petitioner’s service from August 2001 when he had completed 10 years of service on record, and also disburse arrears of salary within four weeks.
On the stand taken by officials that the petitioner’s request was under consideration, the Judge said: “It is not the question of respondents considering the relief to the petitioner for being brought on regular establishment, especially when the petitioner had completed silver jubilee service under the third respondent (Collector). The inaction on the part of the respondents cannot be condoned.”
Repeated pleas
The petitioner said that his repeated pleas to the officials to regularise his services went unheard. In 1998, he approached the State Administrative Tribunal, which directed the officials to consider his representation. Accordingly, the Collector regularised the petitioner’s services and also ordered payment of annual increment arrears since July 1992.
Nevertheless, there was an audit objection on the ground that the Director of Rural Development had not sanctioned the post and the petitioner was asked to give an undertaking to refund the amount paid to him.
