A Supreme Court Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices Hima Kohli, and JB Pardiwala dismissed an appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government against a Madras High Court order granting relief to a sweeper in a Government Higher Secondary School by extending him the benefit of regular appointment. While dismissing the appeal, CJI Chandrachud stated that the Court would not hear a petition in which the government is asserting its authority over a "safai karamchari."

The Court made an oral observation that "You are a Strong State Government, your have come against a Sweeper's before this Court"

The Madras High Court, in its order, stated:

"This Court, even otherwise, cannot imagine a school having thousands of children to be looked after for health and hygiene with the aid of a part-time employee, that too, even a single Sweeper. We, therefore, find that the State Government rightly came up with a scheme for regular appointments...We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned Judgment on the ground that the post of a Sweeper or Scavenger in a Government school is a sine qua non and such post deserves to be made available to an institution keeping in view the nature of the requirement."

The respondent was a sweeper/scavenger in a Government Higher Secondary School on a part-time basis, where he had worked for the past 22 years. The state contended that because there were no regular vacancies, he could not be granted the benefit of a regular appointment as a part-time employee.

Case Details:

The Principal Secretary to Government, School Education Department vs. V. Annamuthu

Diary No.- 18608 - 2021