: Settling the issue of seniority between directly recruited and rank promoted police personnel, Madras High Court today said the first batch of 500 candidates selected for direct recruitment from the open market and 267 departmental candidates cannot be said to have been selected for appointment either in the same selection or the same year.
The matter relates to seniority between more than 500 e Inspectors recruited directly as SIs in March 1996 and another 267 Inspectors who were rank promoted claiming seniority to the Next Promotion as DSP's.
The division bench, comprising Justices V Ramasubramanian and P R Shivakumar settled the seniority wrangle as the directly recruited SI's are on the edge of Promotion as DSP's.
Justice V Ramasubramanian who wrote the judgement, made it clear that merely because the original notification of Jan 1994 acted as the fountainhead, from which two streams -- one for direct recruitment from the open market and another for special selection from among departmental candidates flowed -- it cannot be said they belonged to the same selection.
Therefore, the claim of departmental candidates that they should have seniority over and above those directly recruited from the open market was clearly unsustainable both on facts and in law, he said.
On Jan 1 1994, Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board sought to recruit 500 SIs.The notification did not enable in-service candidates like constables or head constables to apply.
Some constables then moved the erstwhile Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal and obtained an order asking the government to conduct a special selection for in-service candidates by relaxing recruitment rules.
In July 1995, a new Government Order was issued,increasing vacancies and providing for 20 per cent reservation in vacancies for in-service policemen. Now, a total of 1,100 direct recruit SIs and 270 in-service SIs are to be selected.
In the end the first batch of 500 SIs joined training on March 1, 1996, whereas the second batch of 600 did so on June 2, 1997, along with 267 in-service SI recruits.
Dismissing a writ appeal and petitions, demanding a combined seniority list for 1367 Inspectors said "We find, on facts,that at least the first batch of 500 candidates selected for direct recruitment from the open market and the set of 267 departmental candidates selected under 20 per cent quota, cannot be said to have been selected for appointment either in the same selection or in the same year.
"Hence, whichever way the special rules are interpreted, it does not benefit the in-service candidates, at least in so far as the first batch of 500 candidates selected from the open market are concerned.
