CHENNAI: Madras High Court has ruled that candidates who have completed their engineering degree in Tamil medium and those who have completed their diploma in engineering earlier in English, are eligible for availing the quota for persons studied in Tamil medium (PSTM) in recruitment for government services, provided they fulfil the other criterion of having studied in a Tamil medium school upto Plus Two.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh issued the ruling on the petitions filed by four persons who were denied appointment by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) on the ground that their diploma was not in Tamil medium and had not produced the required certificate.
“In the considered view of this Court, the petitioners, who have undergone their entire education in Tamil, should not be deprived of the PSTM category just because they are not able to get PSTM certificate for the diploma which they underwent,” the judge said in a recent order.
The insistence of TNPSC to get the PSTM certificate for the diploma also runs against the plain language used in explanation (iv) to Section 2(d) of the amended Act of Tamil Nadu Appointment on Preferential Basis in the Services under the State of Persons Studied in Tamil Medium Act (the Act), he held. He noted that Tamil medium course in diploma was not available until 2022-23.
The petitioners, R Prakash and three others, had studied diploma in engineering in English and later did their engineering degree in Tamil medium after obtaining admissions through the lateral entry option available for diploma holders. They also had education upto Plus Two in Tamil medium.
They applied for the post of assistant engineer-civil engineering as per the notifications issued in 2022 and 2023 for government service by the TNPSC under the 20% quota for PSTM candidates. However, they were denied appointment on the grounds of not having PSTM certificate for diploma course.
Advocate Kavitha Rameshwar, representing the petitioners, submitted that they had studied their course in Tamil medium and just because they could not get the PSTM certificate for the diploma course in engineering, they cannot be deprived of the opportunity under the PSTM category.
She noted that it is sufficient to have studied engineering degree in Tamil medium, besides up to Plus Two, for fulfilling the eligibility conditions according to section 2 (d) as per the 2020 amendment made to the Act.
However, the counsels for TNPSC and Higher Education department contended that PSTM quota is applicable only to those who have completed their entire education in Tamil medium.
Justice Venkatesh noted that the objective is that persons who have studied Tamil medium, they have very little chance of getting selected in the employment of Central government, other state governments or in private sectors. Therefore, there was a need for giving preference to those persons who have studied through Tamil medium, in State government services.
He stated the recruiting agency while providing for the quota under the PSTM category is also bound by the provisions of the Act, which it cannot try to interpret differently except to understand it in the manner it has been specifically provided under the Act.
Concluding that the petitioners have studied SSLC, HSC and the Degree through Tamil medium, he ordered that they are eligible for recruitment through the PSTM quota and they must be considered for the appointment to assistant engineers-civil engineering.