HC directs TN to furnish job vacancy details of Thiruvalluvar Univ

CHENNAI: A division bench of the Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to furnish the details of job vacancies at Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore on February 8.

The court passed the direction to find out whether 66 sacked staffers of the university could be reinstated into the service.

"Furnish details of the vacancies and give a timeline so that the employees concerned in these appeals could be accommodated if possible in preference over new recruits," the bench comprising Justice S Vaidyanathan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq insisted to Advocate-General R Shunmugasundaram.

The court passed the direction on hearing a writ appeal filed by Thiruvalluvar University. The appellant university sought direction to set aside the single judge's reinstatement of the staff members associated with the Thiruvalluvar University Employees' Union.

The writ petitioner's counsel Ajay Kos submitted that the job done by the employees has been entrusted to outsiders by way of outsourcing, in addition to paying wages under Section 17-B of the Industrial Disputes Act to the employees.

He further submitted that on account of double payment, the exchequer's money is being wasted unnecessarily and the same may be stopped.

Recording the submissions, the judge held that "counsel appearing for the union is expected to identify as to whether 66 employees connected in these appeals are interested in joining the work or willing to accept compensation in lieu thereof."

"We also make it very clear that if the university wants the services of the employees, the persons can be accommodated and pendency of these writ appeals is not a bar to accommodate them in service," the court held.