The Madras High Court observed that pendency of the petitioner application for a long time, where Respondent could make appropriate decision made this Court to invoke its extraordinary powers under Article 226 of Constitution of India.
“Non-consideration of the representation by the Statutory Authority would amount to dereliction of duty and hence this Court will be justified in invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 226 of Constitution of India and direct them to consider the same within a stipulated time”.
The above observation was made by the Single-judge bench of Madras High Court, comprising of Justice M. S. Ramesh while dealing with the Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents to appoint the petitioner in the cadre post of Forest Watcher by giving the benefit of relaxation of height rule with effect from the date of his juniors appointment in the post of Forest Watcher on 24.01.1995, by considering his representation made through various petitions.
Factual Background
The Petitioner named A.Sudalaikkannu had applied for the post of Forest Watcher in the Forest Department, Tamil Nadu. The petitioner asked the Respondent to give him preference by relaxing the criteria of height which was passed by the Respondent through various orders. Through these orders, many juniors to the petitioner were appointed. Therefore the petitioner filed the petitioner before this Court.
Court Reasoning & Judgment
The Court was of the view that Petitioner had already made an application before the Respondent regarding the same issue and that was pending for a long time. That’s why he made this petition before this Court. The Court reiterated on the Respondents delaying behaviour and held that:
“It is needless to point out that whenever a representation of this nature is made to a Statutory Authority, there is a duty cast upon the respondents to consider the same on its own merits and pass appropriate orders in one way or other, instead of keeping the same pending indefinitely. As such, non-consideration of the representation by the Statutory Authority would amount to dereliction of duty and hence this Court will be justified in invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 226 of Constitution of India and direct them to consider the same within a stipulated time.”
The Court also made it clear that Court was not assuring the petitoner’s claim as the Respondent could check other eligibility criteria also and made the speedy disposal of it.
“It is made clear that this Court has not expressed any of its view with regard to the merits of the claim of the petitioner and that it is open to the concerned respondent to consider the same on its own”.
The Bench disposed of the Writ petition and granted twelve weeks time to the Respondent to make its own merits and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law.
Case Details
Case: W.P.(MD) No.3885 of 2021
Petitioner: A.Sudalaikkannu
Respondent: The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors
Counsel for the Petitioner: Ms.K.Jenitha
Counsel for the Respondent: Mr.A.Muthu Karuppan
Quorum: Justice M. S. Ramesh
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