The operation of an order dated July 2 this year of the TN bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) setting aside the selection of D Jagannathan (48) to the IAS, was stayed by the Madras High Court on Wednesday.
A division bench comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice M Venugopal granted the injunction while admitting a writ petition from Jagannathan, seeking to set aside the orders of the CAT.
Originally, while allowing an application from S Sattanathan, Additional Director of Department of Rural Development and Panchayatraj, the CAT quashed the selection of Jagannathan.
Aggrieved, Jagannathan filed the writ petition in the Madras High Court and the bench granted the stay.
Advocate M Ravi submitted that during 2010, 12 non-State civil service officers, shortlisted from various departments by a coimmittee consisting of senior secretaries, appeared in the interview conducted in June that year by the selection committee of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Petitioner and Sattanathan were among the four candidates recommended by the Rural Development department. The individual merits of the candidates were assessed by the selection committee and on the basis of the same, petitioner and L Sitharasenan were selected against the two vacancies for appointment to IAS.
Petitioner was appointed to the IAS by a GO dated August 27, 2010 by promotion and joined as Sub-Collector, Ranipet and later promoted as Collector in Namakkal.
While so, Sattanathan, who had consistently failed to get selected on merit, had moved the CAT. It was not open to Sattanathan, who had not chosen to challenge his non-selection, to claim that he should be considered for selection as there were many candidates above him on merit.
He had not raised the ground of mala fide on the part of any of the officials including the State government, Ravi contended.