CHENNAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has modified a condition in a GO issued by the School Education department on June 20, which omitted relaxation available to physically disabled candidates, with conditions.
Justice D Krishnakumar granted the modification while passing orders on a batch of writ petitions seeking to quash the GO as illegal, in so far as condition No9 (i) omitted the relaxation available to the physically disabled. Consequently, the petitioners prayed for a direction to the authorities, to permit them to participate in the general transfer counselling for 2019-20.
According to the petitioners, the government passed the GO, wherein it imposed a pre-condition of completion of three years of service in the present working place, in order to take part in the counselling prior to June 1, 2019, and omitted relaxation granted in the 2017 GO, to the priority categories like total blindness, heart transplantation surgery, etc.
The judge said that he was inclined to modify condition 9(i) of the June GO and Clause (10), which omitted the relaxation, with certain directions. The judge said that the petitioners, who are all coming under the categories of deployment or by promotions for 2018-2019, not completing one year of service in the present working place, are entitled to attend counselling for transfer, provided they have not attended counselling prior to June 1, 2019. The petitioners coming under these categories for 2017-2018, not completing one year of service in the present working place as on June 1, 2018, are entitled to attend the counselling to be held for 2019-20, provided they have not attended the same prior to June 1, 2019.
The judge directed the school education secretary to pass appropriate orders within two weeks. Petitioners who have not submitted application can do so within a week.