HC notice to Tangedco on regularisation of helpers’ jobs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.11.2019

Twenty-five contractual helpers engaged by the North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS)for morethan 11 years has moved the Madras high court seeking to regularise their jobs and retain them in the newly created post of gangman.

“It is well settled that continuous employment of 480 days confers the right to demand regularisation on the workmen. In the present case, workmen have worked without break from 1998 to 2009 for 11years and thereafter from August 10, 2010 till date without break. Therefore, the petitioners are entitled to a claim of regularisation and cannot be termed a back-door entry,” senior counselP Wilson said representing the petitioners.

Admitting the plea, Justice S M Subramaniam ordered notices to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) and the NCTPS, returnable by November 21.

While10,000 such contract labourers are engaged presently by NCTPS, Tangedco issued two notifications which stated that the post of gangman is newly created with additional 5,000 posts on abolition of equivalent number of posts which were lying vacant for more than three years, the petitioners alleged.

The petitioners and other similarly situated people are mostly from local areas and many of them have voluntarily parted with their land for the construction of the power plant. Therefore, in the interest of equity and justice as well, it is only fitting that the corporation gives them the first preference while recruiting gangman, Wilson said.

Sabarimala opens; Kerala cops close door for women under 50
10 AP Women Turned Back From Pamba

Anantha.K1 TNN

Sabarimala:17.11.2019

As the Sabarimala temple opened on Saturday evening for the two-month annual festival amid tight security, the Kerala police, in defiance of the Supreme Court order, stopped women pilgrims at Pamba, 5km from the hilltop temple of Lord Ayyappa, checked their documents for age proof and allowed only those above 50 to proceed. Police said 10 women from Andhra Pradesh “who were below 50” were turned back.

In September last year, the apex court had held the centuries-old ban on women and girls aged 10 to 50 unconstitutional. On Thursday, it referred the issue to a larger seven-member bench for detailed examination, without staying its 2018 verdict.

The LDF government, which was proactive in implementing 2018 Supreme Court order, had indicated on Friday that it wasn’t in favour of young women going to Sabarimala, despite Thursday’s verdict making it clear that there was no stay on allowing women to have darshan of Lord Ayyappa.

Though police refused to reveal details of the women who were forced to turn back, TOI managed to identify two of them as Manthayaru, 49, and Sati Anasooya, 38kk, both natives of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. The two women reached Pamba as part of a group of around 30 people who are on a pilgrimage tour of Kerala.

PILGRIMS’ PROGRESS: Mandhyaru and Sati Anasooya at Pamba after police deny them permission to climb hillock

Will uphold gender justice: Politburo

C PM politburo is learned to have reiterated the party’s commitment to uphold ideals of gender justice in religion. The two-day meeting of politburo that began in New Delhi on Saturday discussed the November 14 verdict of the SC on woman’s entry into Sabarimala, and said the LDF government must take steps to clear the ambiguities in the verdict.

Kerala deploys 1,400 policemen near the sanctum at Sabarimala

The Renaissance Protection Committee, a LDFbacked organization, said it was outraged by Saturday’s developments and criticised the ruling LDF government, saying it had “gone soft” on its stand on the issue and this would only help “weaken the cause”.

Heavy security arrangements arein place at Sabarimala. Around 1,400 police personnel have been deployed at the Sannidhanam (the area near the sanctum), led by a superintendent-rankofficer and10deputy SPs. At Pamba and Nilackal, there are around 720 and 700 police personnel respectively on duty, and this includes around 250 women police officers. In addition, separate teamsof QuickReaction Force, Rapid Action Force, police commandos and National Disaster Response Force are also deployed at theSannidhanam. At Pamba, metal detectors and X-ray scanners have been installed. More than 50 women police personnel have been entrusted with verifying women pilgrims’ ID cards.

A senior police officer told TOI that they have been instructedby the government not to permit women from the “barred age group” from climbing the hillock. “We are checking the ID cards of all women at Pamba itself to avoid further confusion at Sannidhanam. Women police officers havebeen deployed atPamba to ensure that,” he said.

Manthayaru said that they reached Pamba hoping that they could have Ayyappa darshan but the police blocked them. “We could not climb the hill as the police said we cannot go there because we are aged below 50. So, we are waiting here for others from our team to return from the temple,” she told TOI near the Ganapathi temple at Pamba.

“After finding them to be in the barred age-group, we advised them to go back. They cooperated with us and did not proceed further. Around eight other women who were part of the group also returned with them,” a policeofficer toldTOI.

As the temple opened on Saturday, thousands of devotees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and other neighbouring states offered prayers at the temple. At 5 pm, Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu opened the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and performed poojas.AK Sudheer Namboodiri took charge as Sabarimala ‘melshanti’ (chief priest), while MS Parameswaran Namboodiri is likely to take charge as chief priest of the adjacent Malikappuram devi temple by November 23.


FULL FAITH: Women devotees at the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple that opened for the two-month long annual pilgrimage on Saturday

785 surplus staff of Annamalai University may get salary cut
HC Dismisses Plea Against Notice

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.11.2019

The Madras high court has dismissed a batch of appeals moved by Annamalai University employees, grade I and II special officers, challenging showcause notices issued to them seeking an explanation why their pay scale should not be reduced to that of assistant section officers to reduce the financial burden of the university.

All the 785 officers were appointed pursuant to orders of vice-chancellor without sanction of the finance committee or the syndicate and they became surplus in terms of workload, causing a loss of ₹60 crore per annum.

The appeal challenged the orders passed by a single judge assailing the showcause notices. Dismissing the appeals, a division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee said, “This court is of the opinion that challenge to the impugned showcause notice is pre-mature. This court, on an independent application of mind to the entire materials, is of the view that there is no error apparent or infirmity in the reasons assigned by the learned judge in the impugned common order passed in the writ petitions and finds no merit in these writ appeals.”

According to the showcause notice dated August 13, 2018, the continuance of these 785 surplus officers in employment without no work but with full pay, cripples the financial situation of the university causing huge deficit every year and posing imminent threat to the very existence of the university.

“With the intent of striking a balance between the deteriorating financial position of the university and avoiding retrenchment of these surplus officers, who have no work, the university has been exploring the possibility of accommodating these surplus officers against some other cadre for the time being namely, assistant section officers in the pay scale of ₹9,300-₹34,800 + GP ₹4,600,” the notice read.

The university is of the view that the proposal, although might reduce your present scale of pay of ₹15,600- ₹39,100 + GP ₹5,400, would contribute to a certain extent to the financial stability of the university. The university intends to process this proposal after taking your remarks/explanation in this regard, it said.

Madras high court throws out TN quota in promotions

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

PublishedNov 16, 2019, 2:50 am IST

The Roster Point System in Tamil Nadu has its own distinctiveness involving its unique characteristics.

Madras High Court.

Chennai: In a major setback to the Tamil Nadu government, the Madras high court has declared as ultra vires and unconst ice) Act, 2016, which fixed seniority through roster point (reservation) in the state government services.

A division bench comprising Justices M.M.Sundresh and RMT. Teekaa Raman declared sections 1 (2), 40 and 70 of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act as ultra vires and unconstitutional. The bench passed the order on a batch of petitions and appeal from the aggrieved government servants. The bench said a roster point system qua seniority deprecated by the court brought back with anterior date, tracing the power in Article 16 (4) of the Constitution of India and thus, removing the basis was under challenge before it.

The Roster Point System in Tamil Nadu has its own distinctiveness involving its unique characteristics. The 200 point roster was being followed at present leading to mandatory 69 percent vertical reservation on communal basis. Reservation includes Horizontal and Internal while adopting 69 percent reservation.

Vertical Reservation was with respect to adequate representation on the basis of community, while Horizontal Reservation would include sub-sects and special categories, such as, women, destitute widows, ex-serviceman, physically handicapped and persons studied in Tamil Medium etc. Incidentally, the state does not choose to follow the mandate of the Apex Court in eschewing creamy layer, the bench added.

The bench said there was yet another facet in the roster point system. A roster fixed was also taken for the fixation of seniority. A person selected under the roster will get his seniority determined accordingly as against merit in a single selection process. This was put to challenge in the earlier round of litigation.

A division bench of the court in Santhosh Kumar case has held that the selected candidates were to be conferred seniority based upon merit and not the roster point. This was taken on appeal by way of SLP, which were also dismissed. To remove the basis of the judgment of the division bench as confirmed by the Apex Court, Section 1 (2), 40 (1) and 70 and 71 of the TNGS (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 were introduced, the bench added.

The bench said a meritorious reserved category candidate accommodated against ‘general turn’ should not be made to suffer despite being more meritorious. Rule 35 (a) cannot be read as resorted to by the government overthrowing merit as against roster point qua seniority. The 200 point roster was nothing but a mechanism to fill up vacancies in the respective quota and therefore, cannot be elevated to that of merit when it comes to seniority, the bench added.

The bench said in the case on hand, the state government took umbrage under Article 16 (4) of the Constitution of India to get over the dictum of the Court.

“We may note that the Constitutional bench of the Apex court has already held and which was taken note of by other decisions, that Article 16 (4) does not authorise such an action unless there is an express provision like the one introduced by way of 77th and 85th amendments in Article 16 (4A) of the Constitution.

As it is an express statement of law, we are constrained to hold that the state of Tamil Nadu does not have the power, authority or cachet to introduce the impugned provisions tracing Article 16 (1) and 16 (4) of the Constitution as their source of power, we are constrained to note that we are dealing with a case involving all sort of reservations at the level of seniority when there is no material available nor produced before the court”, the bench added.

The bench said, “We hold that the impugned provisions do not have the legal sanctity under Article 16 of the Constitution of India. Even assuming that the same is in existence, the adequacy and the need for reservation have not been supported by requisite materials. Therefore, on both these grounds, the provisions are to be declared as ultra vires and unconstitutional”.

Kerala University marklist seized from accused

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedNov 16, 2019, 3:17 am IST

The university has ordered an inquiry into the incident after the DRI submitted a report to the higher authorities.

Kerala University

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala University marklists are easily available to even smugglers. Unfilled marklists of the university were seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence recently from the residence of Vishnu Somasundaram, the key accused in a gold smuggling case and an associate of the late musician Balabhaskar.

The university has ordered an inquiry into the incident after the DRI submitted a report to the higher authorities claiming that they had confiscated seven unfilled marklists with signatures and seal from the residence of Vishnu during the raids conducted on June 14. Vishnu, on bail in the gold smuggling case, is absconding. Sources said that the DRI will soon submit a letter to Higher Education Principal Secretary Usha Titus to launch a probe. At present, the marklists are in the possession of the DRI.

Vishnu and Prakash Thampi, another associate of Balabhaskar, had smuggled in 720 kilograms of gold through the Thiruv-ananthapuram airport.

The DRI had nabbed beautician Sareena and KSRTC conductor Sunil on May 13 while they were trying to smuggle in 25 kg of gold through the airport.

Others, including Vishnu and Prakash Thampi, were arrested later and Vishnu absconded when they were released on bail. As Customs Superintendent Radhakrishnan was among the accused, the DRI handed over the probe to the CBI.

Kerala University Vice-Chancellor V.P. Mahadevan Pillai, who ordered a probe into the incident, asked the DRI to provide him the details of the confiscated marklists. The university was issuing digital marklists for various examinations for the past many years, said Mr Pillai.

Chennai: Students demand safer academic space

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published  Nov 16, 2019, 2:44 am IST

The body should include psychologists, mental health experts, sociologists, educationists, faculty of IITM and other professional stakeholders.

Students of IIT Madras stage a protest in front of the Central Lecture Theatre demanding an external expert panel to carry out a mental health study among the students on campus. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: Students of the IIT on Thursday staged protest in front of the Central Lecture Theatre in the institute, demanding among other things an external expert panel to carry out a mental health study among the students on campus.

While the tragic death of Fathima has come as a shock to the student community, “the inaction of the administration regarding the structural issues that have led to more and more suicides is appalling and must be protested against”, the students said in a petition to the Director.

Fathima’s father Abdul Latheef speaking to media

The students sought a “safer academic space” for the students amid some allegations that the Institute is dominated by an elite class and the commoner student is looked down upon. They reminded the administration of the resolution of the Student Legislative Council last semester remains unattended and must be implemented at once “to set up a body of outside experts to study the overall mental wellbeing of the students in the institute and on the effectiveness of the existing platforms and mechanisms to tackle all the issues faced by students in the campus”.

The body should include psychologists, mental health experts, sociologists, educationists, faculty of IITM and other professional stakeholders and must look into the pressures faced by students, especially those from marginalised social backgrounds including SC/ST, women, and queer communities. “The recommendations of the body should be acted upon.” They said.

Their petition to Director also called for the setting up of a ‘complaints and grievances redressal committee in all departments at the earliest to provide any needed assistance to the friends and classmates of Fathima.

Drugs worth Rs 1,081 crore seized in the last 19 months: RTI

PTI | Nov 15, 2019, 08.53 PM IST

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police has seized narcotic drugs worth Rs 1,081 crore in the last 19 months and arrested 1,073 people for drug-related crimes, an RTI query revealed.

The number of people arrested in drug-related cases more than doubled as of September 2019 compared to the previous year, the information obtained from the Anti- Narcotics Cell revealed.

The RTI query filed by activist Anil Galgali sought information regarding the number of drug-related cases, arrests, seized drugs and their value.

The police has provided the data from January 1, 2018 to September 2019.

"We have recovered narcotics worth Rs 1,081 crore in the last 19 months (between January 2018 to September 2019) and arrested more than 1,000 people, which includes drug peddlers," said Shivdeep Lande, deputy commissioner of police (ANC).

As per the data shared by the police, a total of 1,363 kg of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, MD and LCD were seized in the whole of 2018.

The drugs seized last year are valued at Rs 1,016 crore and 395 accused were arrested for drug-related crimes of which 194 were marijuana users, the RTI query stated.

From January 1 to September 30, 2019, around 169.4 kg of narcotic substances, worth Rs 64.64 lakh were recovered by the police, the data revealed.

The number of accused has doubled this year with 678 arrests, the query stated

"The ANC has been working relentlessly to curb drug menace in the city and it is because of our team's efforts that the number of arrests have increased this year compared to last year," Lande said.