Madras HC: Roster System can’t be followed while deciding Judges Seniority

Madras High Court Law InsiderMadras High Court Law Insider

Snehal Upadhyay

Published on August 04, 2021, at 03:05 PM

The Madras High Court has held in its judgement that the inter see seniority among civil judges (junior division) cannot be just made fixed on the conformity of 200-point roster system followed by Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) to apply the rule of reservation while recruiting them.

The Court was hearing a bundle of petitions regarding recruitment conducted in 2009 and the order of seniority for Civil Judges (Junior Division) who were recruited in that year.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy stated that the seniority should be recognized only based on marks scored in the recruitment examination by the candidates.

The Court while deciding the case referred to the Apex Court judgement in the case of Bimlesh Tanwar vs. the State of Haryana.

The Court said that to hold that seniority must be based on roster point will be unreasonable and will also stand against article 14 of the Constitution of India which is Right to Equality The bench further directed that the judgement shall be binding to the seniority list of Civil Judge (Junior Division) from 2009 onwards.

The State of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission had opted for the roster position in order to govern the inter se seniority of the judicial officers’ recruitment.

Objecting to this, the Court remarked that the roster system method conceive the application of reservation on the vacancies and this position does not reflect the merit of the candidates and the purpose of determining seniority solely based on roster point would adversely affect the merit of the person, particularly a Meritorious Reserved Category candidate (“MRC”)

The judgement pronounced by the Court mentioned “The issue is no longer res integra and it may no longer be contended that the roster position would determine the seniority of the recruits in any recruitment process. Thus, the seniority of the persons inducted to the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) from 2009 onwards has to be determined in accordance with the marks obtained by the successful candidates in the recruitment examination such that the appointee with the highest marks will be placed in the first position and the appointee with the lowest marks among the successful candidates will be placed in the last position in the list prepared according to seniority, irrespective of, and completely without reference to, the positions such appointees may have occupied on the 200-point roster”

Click here to Read/Download the Order

Also read: Roster System will be used for functioning of Uttar Pradesh District Courts

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