COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation has terminated the employment of 54 junior assistants after the Supreme Court upheld a Madras high court order setting aside their appointments made in 2021. The official executive orders terminating their services were issued to the respective zonal offices on Friday, corporation sources said.On June 18, a division bench of Madras high court quashed the appointments, holding that the entire recruitment process was arbitrary, unconstitutional and lacked a valid selection procedure. The Supreme Court upheld the high court order in July.The executed orders also included the communication made by the additional chief secretary to the Tamil Nadu govt to take appropriate action as per the HC directions and consider the matter as urgent.The recruitment notification for the postings was issued in September 2020 for 69 junior assistant vacancies during the AIADMK regime when S P Velumani was minister for municipal administration, rural development, and implementation of special programme. The corporation received 654 applications, of which 440 candidates appeared for certificate verification.However, the HC noted that no written examination had been conducted and that the selection and appointment orders for 54 candidates had been issued on the same day without verification. The selected candidates joined service the following day.The court questioned the constitution of the verification committees, observing that the process did not conform to the prescribed service rules. It described the selection as a “fraud on the selection process” and held that the entire recruitment was vitiated, making the consequential appointments illegal.The high court had directed the corporation to ensure protection for a sanitation worker who had challenged the appointments, after the court was informed that some appointed candidates had allegedly threatened her to withdraw the case.With the termination orders now reaching the zonal offices, the 54 employees are expected to be relieved from service in accordance with the court’s directions. The development is likely to have implications for the corporation’s administrative staffing and the employees who have served in the posts for more than five years.
