Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Bench moved to squash order

Staff Reporter

Against promotion of seven Corporation officials

MADURAI: A public interest litigation was moved before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday seeking to quash an order passed by the Special Secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, on August 23, 2002, consenting to promote seven officials of Madurai Corporation.

Since the PIL was moved without agitating the issue before the Government authorities, a Division Bench comprising Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam and Justice S.K. Krishnan asked the petitioner to send a detailed representation to the Government and the Special Secretary was ordered to consider and pass appropriate orders on the representation.

In his petition, S. Murugan, a practicing advocate, said the Government considered framing common service rules to all corporations in the State except Chennai Corporation and accordingly a Government Order was issued on September 26, 1996. As per the order, the Town Planning departments in Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli and Salem corporations were merged with the Engineering and Water Supply departments.

The Town Planning Inspectors, Assistant Town Planning Officers and Town Planning Officers were designated as Assistant Engineer, Assistant Executive Engineer (Planning) and Executive Engineer (Planning) respectively. Though all other corporations implemented the G.O., seven Building Inspectors attached to the Madurai Corporation resisted the move, the petitioner alleged.

Accepting their demand, the Government through another order on May 12, 1998, allowed the seven employees to continue in their posts without any change. But the Building Inspectors made subsequent representations to the Corporation Commissioner seeking to promote them and re-designate their posts as Assistant Executive Engineers in the Town Planning department.

The then Commissioner forwarded the representation to the Government and the Special Secretary on August 23, 2002 acceded to their request and allowed them to participate in the promotion panel. Though the order was passed almost three years back, it was not given effect to date. But the present Commissioner had suddenly decided to implement the order, the counsel for the petitioner alleged.

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