R.Rajan Vs. the Secretary to Government and ors. - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
[m.venugopal, j.] constitution of india - articles 226 -- when the petitioner requested the fourth respondent to permit him to work as a helper on daily wage basis, he orally rejected the request. unfortunately, the petitioner has not been engaged as daily wage electrical helper though he worked in the same capacity till 31-12-2004 under the supervision of the fourth respondent/chief engineer, electrical division, public works department, coimbatore.prayer: this writ petition filed under article 226 of the constitution of india praying for the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the fourth respondent to re-engage the petitioner as an electrical helper on daily wage basis.order1. the petitioner has projected this writ of mandamus praying for passing of an order by this court in directing the fourth respondent to re-engage him as an electrical helper on daily wage basis.2. according to the petitioner, he joined as electrician helper on 06.10.1998 in the public works department. he was working at coimbatore medical hospital on daily wage basis. there were several workers in different branches of the second respondent office and they were engaged on daily wage basis to carry out the repair and maintenance of the buildings, maintained by the second respondent.3. it is case of the petitioner that he was deputed to work as helper in the electrical division coimbatore medical hospital. he was working sincerely without any complaint from any quarter. the daily wage workers formed an association namely, tamil nadu public works department daily wage workers association, which filed o.a.no.7453 of 2000 before the central administrative tribunal, chennai. in the said original application, the tribunal made it clear that there was no prohibition in re-engagement of nmrs already engaged as per the nmr rolls maintained. in accordance with the order passed in o.a.no.7453 of 2000, the third respondent issued a notice in circle no.c1/2/2001, dated 07-05-2001 with regard to the engagement of the nmrs, in and by which the third respondent had issued instructions to all the divisional and sub-divisional offices in salem and coimbatore division to the effect that the third respondent would conduct enquiry in respect of the engagement of nmrs. further, the third respondent in the said circular was informed to keep the record as regards the date, time and place of enquiry.4. the stand of the petitioner is that the third respondent enquired him. however, the fourth respondent/chief engineer, electrical division, coimbatore without any notice, terminated him from service suddenly. he was working as a helper on daily wage basis till 31-12-2004 under the supervision of the fourth respondent. when the petitioner requested the fourth respondent to permit him to work as a helper on daily wage basis, he orally rejected the request. therefore, the petitioner has been constrained to approach this court seeking a direction to be issued to the fourth respondent to re-engage him as an electrical helper on daily wage basis.5. as per notice in circular no.c1/2/2001, dated 07.05.2001 of the third respondent/superintending engineer, public works department, electrical distribution circle, salem, it is evident that in regard to the engagement of daily wage workers, a personal enquiry will be held by the superintending engineer, electrical distribution circle, salem and the enquiry dates beginning from 15-05-2001 to 31-05-2001 together with time have been mentioned. the petitioner's name is seen in sl.no.72. his qualification is mentioned as fail in 10th standard and he is also said to be possessed of helper licence. it appears that there is no service register in respect of the petitioner.6. in the membership form of the tamil nadu public works department daily wage workers association, the petitioner has mentioned that he joined in the service as electrician on 06.10.1998 and in january 2004 he has left the service. according to him, he has put him six years of service as per detail furnished by him in the membership form. in law, there is no prohibition to engage persons on nominal muster rolls when they were already engaged as per the nominal muster roll maintained by the competent authority. the circular no.c1/2/2001, dated 07-05-2001 has been issued by the third respondent/superintending engineer, public works department, electrical distribution circle, salem only in pursuance of the order passed by the central administrative tribunal in o.a.no.7453 of 2000. unfortunately, the petitioner has not been engaged as daily wage electrical helper though he worked in the same capacity till 31-12-2004 under the supervision of the fourth respondent/chief engineer, electrical division, public works department, coimbatore.7. under the circumstances, this court directs the third respondent to re-engage the petitioner as an electrical helper on daily wage basis as per the nominal muster rolls already maintained by the office. the third respondent shall sent a notice to the petitioner requiring him to appear for personal interview on a specified date to re-engage him as an electrical helper on daily wage basis within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. on personal appearance, if the petitioner is found fit and eligible to be considered as daily wage electrical helper, the third respondent is directed to engage him on daily wage basis an an electrical helper and to provide him the work as prayed for by him in the writ petition.8. with the above observations, the writ petition is disposed of. no costs.