Madras High Court
G.Banukumar vs Corporation Of Chennai on 3 January, 2025
W.P.No.11062 of 2015
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 03.01.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.ARUL MURUGAN
W.P.No.11062 of 2015
and
M.P.No.1 of 2015
G.Banukumar ... Petitioner
Vs.
1.Corporation of Chennai
rep. by its Commissioner,
Rippon Building,
EVR Salai, Chennai-3.
2.Zonal Officer,
Zone-15, Sozhinganallur,
Corporation of Chennai, Chennai – 119. ... Respondents
Prayer: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
to issue a Writ of certiorarified mandamus calling for the records in
proceedings in Ma.Aa.15/A1/834/2014 dated 26.02.2015 on the file of the 2 nd
respondent herein and quash the same and direct the 1st respondent herein to
forthwith fix the last drawn pay of the petitioner herein in the post of Record
Clerk and sanction increments, pension and other retirement benefits due to
the petitioner herein in accordance with S.414-A (6) of the Chennai City
Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 with due interest.
Page 1 of 22
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
W.P.No.11062 of 2015
For Petitioner : Mr.V.R.Rajasekaran
For R1 & R2 : Ms.P.Vidhya Shree
for Ms.P.T.Rama Devi
Government Advocate.
ORDER
This writ petition is filed challenging the orders of the 2nd respondent dated 26.02.2015 and for consequential direction to fix the last drawn pay of the petitioner in the post of Record Clerk and to sanction the increments, pension and other retirement benefits.
2. It is the case of the petitioner that originally the petitioner was appointed as Panchayat clerk at Chemmancherry Panchayat, St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union on 01.12.1987 and thereafter, the said post was made full time post and the petitioner was upgraded as Panchayat Secretary. The petitioner was brought under the time scale of pay with effect from 01.05.1988.
3. At this juncture, the Government has issued G.O.Ms.No.256, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, dated 26.12.2009 expanding the Chennai City Municipal Corporation limit by including the Page 2 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 Municipalities, Town panchats and several village panchayats. The Government has notified the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 incorporating a transitional provision under Section 414-A in the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 (hereinafter referred as 'the Act, 1919') dealing with the vesting of the Assets and liabilities of the local bodies within the expanded areas which deemed to have come into force with effect from 24.11.2011. By virtue of Section 414-A (6) of the Act, 1919, all the employees in the aforesaid local bodies within the expanded areas shall be deemed to have become employees of the Corporation of Chennai with pay protection.
4. According to the petitioner, he became the employee of the Corporation from May 2011, but however by an impugned order dated 08.03.2012, he was relieved from service with effect from 12.03.2012 on the ground that no equivalent post is available in the Corporation with the scale of pay to accommodate the Panchayat Secretaries like him. Therefore, the petitioner along with others, challenged the same before this Court in W.P.No.18302 of 2012 and this Court, by an order dated 17.08.2012, allowed the said writ petition, pursuant to which the 1st respondent had issued an Page 3 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 order dated 11.09.2012 permitting the petitioner to join duty.
5. Subsequently, the Government issued order in G.O.(E).No.197, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department (Corp-3), dated 15.04.2013 sanctioning the required number of posts to accommodate Panchayat Secretaries by which the incumbents were to be given training for a period of three years and pursuant to which they will be posted as Record Clerk. However, the petitioner had attained the age of superannuation on 30.04.2013 itself and therefore, he was entitled to count the services in the Village Panchayat from 01.12.1987 to 25.10.2011 and based on which his pension and all other retirement benefits have to be calculated.
6. In this regard, the petitioner had made a representation on 30.04.2013 and pursuant to the orders passed by this Court in W.P.No.26757 of 2014 dated 25.11.2014, the claim of the petitioner was considered. But however, by the orders of the 2nd respondent dated 26.02.2015, the request was rejected stating that the petitioner is not eligible for pension. Assailing the impugned order dated 26.02.2015, the petitioner had preferred the above writ petition.
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7. Mr.V.Rajasekaran, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that once G.O.Ms.No.256 dated 26.12.2009 came to be passed by expanding the limits of Chennai City Municipal Corporation by including several local bodies within their control and the amendments were carried out in the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 and notified, as per sub clause (6) of Section 414 A of the Act, 1919, all the employees who have been working under the local bodies which came to be annexed with the Chennai City Municipal Corporation are deemed to have been employees under the Chennai City Corporation and their services rendered in the local bodies including their pay and other benefits were protected. It is his contention that when the petitioner was earlier relieved by the respondent Corporation on the ground that there is no similar post in the respondent Corporation, the same was challenged and this Court had already set aside the impugned order and allowed the claim, thereby directing the respondents to forthwith allot duties to the petitioner and to protect the service and all other benefits that had been put in before the local bodies.
8. The learned counsel for the petitioner further contended that once by operation of law the petitioner became an employee of the Page 5 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 respondent Corporation, and his services had also been statutorily protected which is confirmed by the orders passed in the earlier round of litigation, the present impugned order rejecting the claim of the petitioner for pension is arbitrary and unsustainable. It is his further contention that already the Government had issued orders in G.O.(E).No.197, dated 15.04.2013, by allowing the persons to be appointed as Record Clerk after undergoing a training of three years, but only since the petitioner did not have sufficient service to complete the training, it cannot be construed that the petitioner will not be entitled for pensionary benefits at all. Therefore, he sought for interference of this Court.
9. Per contra, Ms.P.Vidhya Shree for Ms.P.T.Ramadevi, learned counsel appearing for the respondent Corporation submitted that since the corresponding post was not available before the Corporation, the petitioner and the other similar persons who worked in the local bodies were initially relieved but permitted to join duty pursuant to the orders passed by this Court and they have been taken back into service. Also G.O.(E).No.197, dated 15.04.2013 came to be passed whereby, the employees who worked as Panchayat Secretary were to be absorbed as Record Clerk after undergoing a Page 6 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 period of three years training. Admittedly, when the petitioner had not undergone the training period and had superannuated even prior to that, the claim of the petitioner seeking the pensionary benefits cannot be sustained. It is her further contention that since the petitioner is only entitled to receive a consolidated pension as per G.O.Ms.No.22, dated 14.02.2011, as he had been working only as a Secretary in the Panchayat, the respondents are ready to pay the consolidated pension of Rs.50,000/- which had been declined by the petitioner and therefore, the claim of the petitioner was rightly rejected, which needs no interference and sought for dismissal of the writ petition.
10. This Court had considered the rival submissions and perused the material available on record.
11. It is not in dispute that the petitioner had been working as Panchayat Secretary in the Chemencherry Village Panchayat, St. Thomas Panchayat Union from 01.12.1987 and he was brought under the time scale of pay on 01.05.1988. It is also not in dispute that the Government had issued G.O.Ms.No.256, Municipal Administration Water Supply Department, dated 26.12.2009 for the purpose of expanding the Chennai City Municipal Page 7 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 Corporation Limit by including municipalities, several town panchayats and several village panchayats bringing them within the fold of Chennai City Corporation. In this regard, the Government had notified the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012, whereby amendments were made to the Chennai City Municipal Act, 1919 by amending new Section 414 A, in which transitional provision was incorporated. The amendment is extracted hereunder for easy reference:
PART-II AMENDMENT TO THE CHENNAI CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION ACT, 1919.
2. Insertion of new Section 414-A. After Section 414 of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 (Tamil Nadu Act IV of, 1919), the following Section shall be inserted, namely:-
"414-A. Transitional provision on the extension of the area of the city.-(1) When the area of the city is extended, all property, all rights of whatever kind, used, enjoyed or possessed by, and all interests of whatever kind owned by, or vested in, or held in trust by or for the municipal council, panchayat union council or village panchayat concerned, of the extended area as well as all liabilities legally subsisting against such municipal council, panchayat union council or village panchayat, as the case may be, on and from the date of the Notification, by which such extension of the city is declared, shall, subject to such directions as the Government may, by general or special order, give in this behalf, vest with the corporation.Page 8 of 22
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 (2) All arrears of taxes or other payments by way of composition for a tax, or due for expenses or compensation or otherwise, except such arrears or payments in respect of water supply and sewerage services, due to such municipal council, panchayat union council or village panchayat, as the case may be, on the date of such Notification, shall be recovered as if they had accrued to the corporation and shall be recovered as if such arrears or payments had become due under the provisions of this Act.
(3) All taxes, fees and duties, except in respect of water supply and sewerage services, which immediately before the date of such Notification, were being levied by such municipal council, panchayat union council or village panchayat, as the case may be, shall be deemed to have been levied by the corporation under the provisions of this Act and shall continue to be in force accordingly until such taxes, fees and duties are revised, cancelled or superseded by anything done or any action taken under this Act.
(4) All proceedings except in respect of water supply and sewerage services, taken by, or against such municipal council, panchayat union council or village panchayat or authority or any person under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act 5 of 1920) or tho Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 21 of 1994), as the case may be, shall be continued by, or against, the corporation, authority or person as if such proceedings had been commenced under the provisions of this Act.
(5) Any action except in respect of water supply and sewerage services, taken under the Tamil Nadu Act 5 of 1920 or the Tamil Nadu Act 21 of 1994, as the case may be, by any authority before the date of such Notification, shall be deemed to have been taken by the authority competent to take such action under this Act as if this Act had then been in force.Page 9 of 22
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, every officer or employee except in connection with water supply and sewerage services, who, immediately before the date of such Notification, was in the service of such municipality, town panchayat or village panchayat, as the case may be, shall, on and from the date of such Notification, be deemed to be an officer or employee of the corporation:
Provided that-
(a) the terms and conditions applicable to such officer or employee consequent on his absorption in the service of the corporation shall not be less favourable than those applicable to such officer or employeu immediately before the date of such Notification, as regards pay and allowances, leave, pension, gratuity, provident fund and age of superannuation; and
(b) the service rendered by such officer or employee under such municipality, town panchayat or village panchayat, as the case may be, upto the date of such Notification, shall be deemed to be the service under the corporation and he shall be entitled to count that service for the purpose of increments, leave, pension, provident fund and gratuity:
Provided further that such officer or employee serving in such municipality, town panchayat or village panchayat, as the case may be, shall be given an option to be exercised within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed either to be absorbed in the service of the corporation or to be transferred to the service referred to in Section 73-A of the Tamil Nadu Act 5 of 1920 or to the service referred to In Sections 104 and 105 of the Tamil Nadu Act 21 of 1994, as the case may be, or to be retrenched from the service of such municipality, town panchayat or village panchayat, as the case may be, and on such retrenchment, he shall be eligible for such benefits as may be prescribed." Page 10 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015
12. As per sub-clause (6) of Section 414 A of Act, 1919, every employee who was in service of the local body immediately prior to the notification, including the Village panchayat, shall be deemed to be an employee of the Corporation from the date of such notification. Further, as per proviso to sub-clause (6) of Section 414 A of Act, 1919, the service rendered by such officer or employee under Village panchayat up to the date of such notification shall be deemed to be service under the Corporation and he shall be entitled to count the services for the purpose of leave, pension, P.F and Gratuity.
13. The amendment which is extracted herein above, leaves no manner of doubt that, immediately on the issuance of the notification by incorporating or including the municipalities/town panchayat/village panchayat, as the case may be, by bringing these local bodies under the control of the respondent Corporation, the services put in by the concerned employees with the local bodies shall be deemed to be the service under Corporation and the employee shall be entitled to count their service for increments and all other service benefits including pension. In fact, earlier when the petitioner and the other employees were relieved from the service of Page 11 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 the respondent Corporation on the ground that no similar post is available with them, the said orders were challenged by the petitioner along with the other employees before this Court. This Court, by an order dated 17.08.2012 passed in W.P.Nos.18302 to 18305 of 2012, allowed the writ petitions and directed the respondents to permit the petitioners to report for duty and further directed that the petitioners are entitled for arrears of salary and continuity of service with pay protection. The relevant portion of the said order is extracted hereunder:
“5. There is no controversy before this Court that as per sub-section (6) of Section 414-A of The Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, the petitioners are deemed to be the employees of the Chennai Corporation. There is no dispute that all these petitioners exercised their option to be absorbed as employee of Chennai Corporation. As per the said provision, it is for the Chennai Corporation to provide employment in the Corporation in the same scale of pay, almost in the same nature of service. But, the impugned orders have been passed on the ground that there is no equivalent post available in the corporation. In my considered opinion, it cannot be said so, because there is a statutory compulsion making the petitioners as employees of Chennai Corporation. The learned counsel for the respondents 1 and 2 would submit that the respondent corporation has sent a proposal to the Government in letter in GDC No.G4/19991/2011 dated 25.06.2012 requesting the Government to give permission to the Corporation to absorb the petitioners as employees of the Corporation. The learned counsel has also produced a copy of the said letter wherein the Chennai Corporation has sent further Page 12 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 details as required by the Government for decision. The learned counsel submitted that within two months the matter will be decided by the Government and the Corporation and the petitioners will be provided with employment appropriately either in the Corporation of Chennai or in any other Panchayat in the State.
6. I have considered the above submissions.
7. In my considered opinion, when the petitioners are deemed employees of the Chennai Corporation, the question of sending them out of Chennai Corporation service does not at all arise. It is for the Chennai Corporation, as I have already stated, to create appropriate posts for the petitioners in the Chennai Corporation, more or less, of the same nature of service with pay protection. In such view of the matter, the impugned orders relieving the petitioners from service are liable to be set aside.
8. In the result, the writ petitions are allowed; the impugned orders are set aside; and the petitioners shall be permitted to report for duty forthwith. It is directed that the petitioners are entitled for arrears of salary and continuity of service. It is further directed that the Chennai Corporation shall either create posts or fit in the petitioners in the appropriate posts available in the Chennai Corporation with pay protection.”
14. The respondents accepted this order and in due compliance with the same, also have taken back the petitioner and the other employees into service. It is also not in dispute that the petitioner had been working with the respondent Corporation from the date of notification till the Village Page 13 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 panchayat came to be annexed with the Corporation. Thereafter, the Government had issued G.O.(E).No.197, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, dated 15.04.2013, whereby they have created 19 Body Constituted Posts to absorb the petitioner and other employees who worked as Panchayat Secretaries before the Village Panchayat. As per the said Government order, the incumbents were to be absorbed as Record Clerk after imparting training for a period of three years. The relevant portion of the said Government order reads as under:
“5/muR. brd;id khefuhl;rp Mizahpd;
braw;Fwpg;gpid ftdkhf ghprPyid bra;J.
kJiu. nfhak;g[j;J}h; kw;Wk; jpUr;rp
khefuhl;rpfspy; tphpthf;fg;gl;l gFjpfspy;
gzpg[hpe;j g";rhaj;J brayhsh;fs; midtUk;
bjhlh;g[ila khefuhl;rpfspy;
<h;j;Jf;bfhs;sg;gl;L murhiz btspaplg;gl;L
cs;sjhYk;. brd;id khefuhl;rpapy; j';fis
<h;j;Jf;bfhs;sntz;o tpUg;gf;fojk;
bfhLj;Js;s. ,t;thizapd; gpw;nrh;f;ifapy;
Fwpg;gplg;gl;Ls;s 19 g";rhaj;J
brayhsh;fisa[k; brd;id khefuhl;rpapy;
fPH;f;fz;l epge;jidfSf;Fl;gl;L <h;j;Jf;bfhs;s Kot[ bra;J. mt;thnw MizapLfpwJ?
i/ gpw;nrh;f;ifapy; Fwpg;gplg;gl;Ls;s 19 Page 14 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 g";rhaj;J brayhsh;fis brd;id khefuhl;rpapy; <h;j;Jf; bfhs;Sk; bghUl;L. 19 clyfg; gzpapl';fis (Body Constituted Posts) mth;fs; Vw;fdnt bgw;W te;j Cjpa
tpfpjj;jpy; Cjpa ghJfhg;g[ld; njhw;Wtpf;fyhk;/ ii/ mt;thW njhw;Wtpf;fg;gLk; gzpapl';fs;
jdpah;fs; mg;gzpaplj;jpy; ,Uf;Fk; tiu bjhlh;e;jpUf;f ntz;Lk;/ nkYk;. ,j;jdpah;fspd;
Xa;t[. gjtp cah;t[. ,wg;g[ kw;Wk; ntW gjtpf;F khWjy; Mfpatw;wpd; nghpy; fhyp Vw;god;.
mg;gzpapl';fs; jhdhfnt fhyhtjpahfptpLk;/
iii/ brd;id khefuhl;rp gzpaikg;g[ bjhlh;ghf
ed;F gapwprp bgWk; bghUl;L ,th;fSf;F
brd;id khefuhl;rp gjptiwfspy
Fiwe;jgl;rk; 3 Mz;Lfs; gapw;rp mspf;fyhk;/
iv. 3 Mz;Lfs; gapwprpf;Fg; gpd;. mtuth;fSila
fy;tpj; jFjpf;nfw;g brd;id khefuhl;rpapy;
rhh;epiy gzpapy;. fPH;epiy gzpahd gjpt[U
vGj;jh; (Record Clerk) gjtp cah;t[ tH';f
ghprPypf;fyhk;/”
15. As per the above Government order, the petitioner and other employees who were working under the Villge Panchayat are to be absorbed in the newly created Body Constituted Posts with pay protection and Page 15 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 thereafter imparted training for a period of three years and as per their educational qualification, are to be promoted as Record Clerks. In this regard, it is brought to the notice that even though other employees who were absorbed from the service of the Village Panchayat to the respondent Corporation had sufficient service left for themselves to undergo the training and get promoted to the post of Record Clerk, the petitioner who was at the verge of superannuation, immediately within 15 days of the issuance of the Government order, had retired from service and therefore the petitioner was not having sufficient service to complete his training and get himself promoted to the post of Record Clerk.
16. It is true that if the petitioner had completed the training and had gotten promoted to the post of Record Clerk, he would have been eligible to get himself retired from the category of Record Clerk and entitled to all the retirement and pensionary benefits in the category of Record Clerk. However, since the petitioner did not possess the sufficient service period to complete his training, he was not able to get himself promoted and therefore, he got superannuated from service even prior to completion of the training. Under such circumstances, the claim of the petitioner that the petitioner must Page 16 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 be granted terminal and pensionary benefits in the category of Record Clerk cannot be sustained. However, when admittedly the petitioner had worked in the Village panchayat from the year 1987 and got absorbed in the respondent Corporation, which merged in the year 2011, as referred earlier, in view of sub-clause (6) of Section 414 A, the service rendered by the petitioner in the Village panchayat is deemed to be service rendered under the respondent Corporation, and the period of duty as such has to be calculated for the purpose of considering the terminal and pensionary benefits.
17. In this regard, the submission of the learned counsel appearing for the respondents that they are ready to give the consolidated pension in view of G.O.Ms.No.22 dated 14.02.2011, as it has been paid to the other Panchayat Secretaries in the other Village Panchayat cannot be sustained, for the simple reason that when already the Village panchayat in which the petitioner was working got merged with the respondent Corporation and by operation of law under sub-clause (6) of Section 414 A of Act, 1919, the petitioner had became a deemed employee of the respondent Corporation and the period of service put in by the petitioner is also deemed to be the service rendered under the respondent Corporation. It is too late for the respondent Page 17 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 Corporation to claim that the benefit for the petitioner could be paid by treating him as employee under the Village Panchayat. Further, when the respondents have admittedly included the service for the persons who had service to complete the training and get promoted, the petitioner alone cannot be discriminated by excluding this service period, only because he did not have sufficient service period left to complete the training and get promoted as Record Clerk.
18. Admittedly, the petitioner has put in service from the year 1987 till the date of superannuation i.e., 30.04.2013 and by G.O.(E).No.197, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, dated 15.04.2013, he has already been absorbed in the newly created Body Constituted Post with pay protection. As such, it is for the respondent Corporation to work out the terminal and pensionary benefits in the post in which the petitioner was made to work at the time of retirement and settle the terminal and pensionary benefits whatever he is entitled to.
19. In view of the above deliberations, the impugned order in the writ petition is set aside with the following directions: Page 18 of 22
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(i) The respondents shall calculate the service which the petitioner had rendered as Panchayat Secretary in the Chemmencherry Panchayat, St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union, as a service that has been rendered under the respondent Corporation, in view of sub-clause (6) of Section 414 A of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919.
(ii) The terminal and corresponding pensionary benefits shall be worked out based on the post in which he served prior to retirement, as absorbed through G.O.(E).No.197, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, dated 15.04.2013 and shall be paid to the petitioner within a period of eight (8) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
20. With the above directions, the writ petition stands allowed. The connected miscellaneous petitions, if any, shall stand closed. No costs.
03.01.2025 dpa Index : Yes / No Speaking order / Non-speaking order Neutral Citation : Yes / No Page 19 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 To
1.The Commissioner, Corporation of Chennai Rippon Building, EVR Salai, Chennai-3.
2.The Zonal Officer, Zone-15, Sozhinganallur, Corporation of Chennai, Chennai – 119.
Page 20 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 G.ARUL MURUGAN,J.
dpa W.P.No.11062 of 2015 Page 21 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No.11062 of 2015 03.01.2025 Page 22 of 22 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis