Madras HC grants relief for govt servant on seniority issue
MADURAI: The legal battle of a government servant suffering from cancer, seeking re-fixation of his seniority, had a happy ending after the Madurai Bench of Madras HC granted him relief. Justice S Srimathy allowed his petition with specific instructions to the government to take the petitioner’s health condition into consideration and disburse the consequent monetary benefits to him within a month.
The petition was filed by T Mathiarasan, who is employed with the rural welfare department in Thanjavur.
According to the judgment, Mathiarasan entered government service as a Junior Assistant in 1994 and was promoted to Assistant in 1998.
He was transferred from Pudukkottai to Thanjavur in 2000, but owing to a delay in fixation of his seniority by the government, he couldn’t undergo required service training immediately and therefore, was not included in the promotion panel for Deputy Block Development Officer till 2010.
Seeking re-fixation of his seniority, Mathiarasan also contended that his seniority ought to be calculated from the date of his first appointment in 1994 and not from the date of joining in Thanjavur. Justice Srimathy observed the employee cannot be blamed for the belated service training, more so, when the delay was caused by the government.