ORDER : 1. The petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the records relating to the order of the respondent dated 05.08.2004 issued in Ref.No.O.Mu.No.5404/A2/2004, to quash the same and to direct the respondent to award selection grade to the petitioner in the post of B.T. Assistant taking into account the service rendered by him as Selection Grade Secondary Grade Assistant with all consequential benefits. 2. The facts in brief are as under: The petitioner was appointed as Secondary Assistant in the year 1971 in an Aided Middle School, viz., Sri Venkateswara Middle School, Andagalur Gate. It is stated that the petitioner was given selection grade with effect from 01.01.1981. It is stated that vide proceedings of the Director of School Education dated 17.11.1990, the petitioner was posted as B.T. Assistant and on 06.12.1990, the petitioner joined in the Government High School as B.T. Assistant. 3. According to the petitioner, as per G.O.Ms.No.238, dated 26.06.1998, for awarding selection grade in the post of B.T. Assistant the service rendered in the selection grade post of Secondary Grade Assistant can be taken into account and since the petitioner served as selection grade Secondary Grade Assistant with effect from 01.01.1981 to 12.01.1990, the said period of nine years should be taken into account for awarding selection grade in the post of B.T.Assistant. It is the case of the petitioner that while fixing his pay in the post of B.T. Assistant, the last drawn pay in the post of Secondary Grade Assistant should be taken into account. 4. Inasmuch as the benefit of the above said government order was not extended to the petitioner, the petitioner sent a representation to the respondent, which was rejected by an order dated 05.08.2004. 5. Assailing the said order, the present writ petition is filed. 6. It is the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that as per the government order, supra, the service rendered in the selection grade Secondary Grade Assistant should be taken into account for awarding selection grade in the post of B.T. Assistant and inasmuch as the petitioner served as Secondary Grade Assistant for over nine years, the said period should be taken into account for awarding selection grade in the post of B.T. Assistant. 7. 7. He further argued that the reason given by the respondent in the impugned order that the petitioner having served in a private school as Secondary Grade Assistant, his selection grade service cannot be taken into account, cannot be countenanced, inasmuch as the government order does not make any differentiation between rendering of service in private school or government school. 8. He further contended that even a teacher who resigned from one institution, on joining the other institution is fixed pay based on the last drawn pay in the earlier school and, therefore, the petitioner's case cannot be treated as an exception. 9. Per contra, the learned Special Government Pleader appearing on behalf of the respondent contended that inasmuch as the petitioner resigned from the aided school in the selection grade post and joined as B.T. Assistant in the Government School, he will not come under the ambit of the said government order. 10. He further contended that petitioner is not eligible to get the pay last drawn in the previous aided school in the newly appointed government school in the post of B.T. Assistant, as there is no such provision in the government statutory rules or government orders. 11. It is argued that the government vide government order in G.O.Ms.No.212, School Education Department, dated 07.08.2008, specifically mentioned that the concession of awarding selection grade by counting the services rendered in the selection grade secondary grade post to the Higher ordinary grade scale of B.T. Assistant/Tamil Pandit are eligible only to those who are promoted from the selection grade Secondary Grade of the lower post and inasmuch as the petitioner had resigned and was newly appointed, such benefit as claimed by the petitioner cannot be extended to him. 12. I heard Mr.Muthukannu, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mr.R.Govindasamy, learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondent and perused the documents available on record. 13. 12. I heard Mr.Muthukannu, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mr.R.Govindasamy, learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondent and perused the documents available on record. 13. Before going into the merits of the matter, it is apposite to refer to the relevant portion of G.O.Ms.No.992, Education Department, dated 22.06.1979, which reads as under: “According to the orders issued for award of selection Grade to the Teachers on 10 years service basis, the entire period of services rendered by them in the same post under all kinds of managements, viz., Government local bodies, Aided Agencies may be counted for reckoning the required period of 10 years of service to grant selection Grade in that post and that while counting the past services under different managements the period of breaks in service, if any, should be excluded. 2. The Director of School Education has brought to the notice of the Government that certain Chief Educational Officers had not agreed to take into account the services rendered by School Assistants in various schools prior to their resignation from schools concerned and thus deprived them from the concession of getting selection grade on completion of 10 years of services. ... 4. The Government, have carefully examined and have decided that the relevant Panchayat Union Council Establishment Rules and the relevant Tamil Nadu Municipal Educational Service Rules be amended suitably to ensure the past services rendered by teacher prior to his/her resignation from one management school or from a panchayat union school or from a Municipal School are taken in to account for the period of 10 years of service required for grant of selection grade. Pending issue of amendment to the panchayat union Establishment Rules and the Tamil Nadu Municipal Rules, the Government direct that the services rendered by a teacher under all kinds of managements, viz., Government Panchayat Union, Municipal, Corporation and aided agencies and also in and under the control of Director of Backward Classes and of Harijan and Tribal Welfare prior to his/her resignation, termination, transfer or migration should be counted for the required period of 10 years of service for the purpose of granting selection grade in that post excluding the period of breaks if any.” 14. In the case on hand, the petitioner is stated to have resigned from the aided school in the selection grade post and joined as B.T. Assistant in the Government School. In the case on hand, the petitioner is stated to have resigned from the aided school in the selection grade post and joined as B.T. Assistant in the Government School. The facts that the petitioner was appointed as Secondary Assistant in the year 1971 in an Aided Middle School, viz., Sri Venkateswara Middle School, Andagalur Gate, where he was given selection grade with effect from 01.01.1981 and thereafter vide proceedings of the Director of School Education dated 17.11.1990, the petitioner was posted as B.T. Assistant and on 06.12.1990, the petitioner joined a Government High School as B.T. Assistant are not in dispute. Therefore, the above said government order is, in my considered opinion, squarely applicable to the case of the petitioner, more so, as the petitioner was serving in the aided school, which is explicitly stated in the above said government order. 15. Under identical circumstances, while considering the case of a person who originally was appointed in an aided private school before he joined the Government School, when a question was raised as to whether the service put in by him in the aided institution should also be taken into account for conferring selection grade scale of pay and special grade scale of pay, a learned Single Judge of this Court referring to G.O.Ms.No.992, dated 22.06.1979 and G.O.Ms.No.333, dated 14.02.1977, allowed the writ petition. On a challenge made by the Department, the writ appeals, being W.A.(MD) Nos.778 and 779 of 2016 (The Director of Elementary Education and others v. S.Jeyakumar), were dismissed by a Division Bench of this Court by order 07.09.2017, holding as under: “4. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant contended that the service put in by the respondent herein in the aided private school cannot be taken into account. But the above contention runs counter to the language found in the said G.O. referred in the order of the learned Single Judge. After, going through the entire text of the aforesaid G.O., the learned Single Judge has arrived at the conclusion that service rendered by the teacher under whatever category of management should be taken into account for conferring selection and special grade scales of pay. The reasons assigned by the learned Single Judge is sound.” 16. After, going through the entire text of the aforesaid G.O., the learned Single Judge has arrived at the conclusion that service rendered by the teacher under whatever category of management should be taken into account for conferring selection and special grade scales of pay. The reasons assigned by the learned Single Judge is sound.” 16. In the light of the law enunciated in the decision referred supra, which is binding on this Court, it does not lie in the mouth of the respondent to say that inasmuch as the petitioner had resigned from the post, the service rendered by him in the selection grade post of Secondary Grade Assistant cannot be taken into account. 17. The contention of the respondent that inasmuch as the petitioner resigned from the aided school in the selection grade post and joined as B.T. Assistant in the Government School, he will not come under the ambit of the said government order also cannot be countenanced for the simple reason that G.O.Ms.No.992, dated 22.06.1979 specifically covers teachers under all kinds of managements, including aided agencies. 18. For the foregoing reasons, the writ petition is allowed and the order of the respondent dated 05.08.2004 issued in Ref.No.O.Mu.No. 5404/A2/2004 is set aside and the respondent is directed to award selection grade to the petitioner in the post of B.T. Assistant taking into account the service rendered by him as Selection Grade Secondary Grade Assistant with all consequential benefits. The said exercise shall be undertaken by the respondent within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. No costs.