Direct Recruits Rank Above Compassionate and Regularised Temporary Staff: SC Settles 40-Year Tamil Nadu Seniority Dispute

The Supreme Court has held that, among Tamil Nadu government clerical staff recruited from three sources, those selected through the Public Service Commission’s competitive exam (the 1983 batch) rank senior to compassionate appointees and to the temporary staff who were later regularised. The Court has also said that compassionate appointees and regularised temporary staff should be ranked between themselves by the date of regularisation.

The dispute concerns Junior Assistants, Typists and Steno-typists. During a ban on regular appointments in 1981-84, many were appointed on a temporary basis through employment exchanges, and others were appointed on compassionate grounds. Meanwhile, the Public Service Commission held an exam in November 1983, and its selected candidates were appointed from 1985 to 1987. The temporary staff were regularised from 26 June 1984, and the 1987 Special Absorption Rules (Clause 10) placed the 1983-batch candidates above them. The compassionate appointees were placed among direct recruits by a 1984 Government Order, according to their date of appointment. The Madras High Court held in 2006 that the 1983-batch candidates rank above the temporary staff, but that compassionate appointees rank by their date of initial appointment, which put them above both. The temporary staff, the direct recruits and the compassionate appointees all appealed. Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and Shree Chandrashekhar upheld Clause 10. They said that the direct recruits were kept waiting only because temporary appointees occupied the posts, the State had recognised this, and the temporary staff, who did not challenge the rule for about 14 years, were bound by it. They held that the 1984 order is only an executive order and cannot override the rules, and that compassionate appointment is an exception to the equality rules and not a regular mode of recruitment, so such appointees cannot rank above those selected through competitive selection. They modified the High Court’s judgment, so that the compassionate appointees will not rank above the 1983-batch direct recruits, and the two groups of temporary and compassionate appointees will be ranked by date of regularisation.

Citation: M. Prema v. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors., Civil Appeal No. 8757 of 2013 (with Civil Appeal Nos. 8755 and 8756 of 2013 and T.C.(C) Nos. 50, 51 and 52 of 2013), Supreme Court (Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and Shree Chandrashekhar), decided on 09.10.2026 | 2026 INSC 1105