A division bench of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court here has ordered an interim stay on a single judge’s order that quashed the State government’s selection of 28,596 persons for the post of noon meal organisers, cooks, cook assistants, anganwadi workers, mini-anganwadi workers and anganwadi helpers in Tamil Nadu.
Quashing the entire selection process under the Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Scheme and Integrated Child Development Services, Justice Vinod K Sharma held that the process of selecting candidates based on village reservation cannot be sustained in law as it is unconstitutional, violating Articles 14 and 16 of Indian constitution.
“The selection process had resulted in denial of consideration to all the eligible persons”, the judge had ruled. In an appeal filed before the division bench comprising Justices P P S Janarthana Raja and M Duraiswamy, S Chandramani, Deputy Secretary to Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Department said that the posts of noon meal staff and anganwadi employees did not have ‘any constitutional validity’.
“The noon meal staff are non-cadre post and are different from other regular appointments, The anganwadi employees are part-time and temporary servants, whose service does not come under article 309 of Indian Constitution,” said Advocate General A Navaneethakrishnan, appearing for the State. The posts under the nutritious meal programme and integrated child development services are temporary and have been created by an executive order to help implementation of the schemes They cannot be classified as constituted device and their duties and service conditions are regulated only through executive orders,” the Advocate General argued.
He, therefore, said that the impugned order of the single judge was liable to be quashed. Justices P P S Janarthana Raja and M Duraiswamy, on Monday, ordered an interim stay for six weeks and adjourned the case to November 15.
Comments
0 comment