Madras HC directive to TANGEDCO on dalit woman's plea for appointment as Assistant Engineer

Noting that candidates with lesser marks than the petitioner have been selected for the post of Assistant Engineer, the court ordered TANGEDCO to consider appointing her to the post within 4 weeks.

Justice T Raja gave the direction yesterday on a petition by R Priyadarsini of Kanyakumari district.

Passing the order, the judge said, "Considering the selection of candidates who secured lesser marks than the petitioner, this court is satisfied with the marks secured by her (petitioner)."

The respondent is directed to bring her under priority category and consider her for the post, for which she has applied as per the notification, he said.

"The exercise shall be completed within a period of four weeks," he added.   

When the matter came up, the petitioner's counsel said Priyadarsini belonged to scheduled caste, which is a priority category and had also acquired a certificate from the President for Outstanding Scout, for which priority should be given as per a government order applicable to all departments.

The matter relates to a notification issued by Tamil Nadu Generation And Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) for the recruitment of 273 posts of Assistant Engineers in the electrical stream on December 28, 2015.

Out of 273 posts, 48 were reserved for scheduled caste candidates.

The petitioner submitted that she scored 29.283 marks in the interview, whereas the cut-off mark for the (women) candidates under the priority basis is 26.294.

Alleging that the candidates who secured lesser mark were given appointments, the petitioner said though she secured 29.283, the corporation has not sent any appointment order to her.

Despite a representation made to the official concerned, there was no response, she rued.