(Prayer : Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issuance of Writ of Mandamus, to direct the respondent to issue hall ticket for forth coming examination for the post of Assistant Professor scheduled on 20.12.2025 on the strength of the respondent’s Notification No.04/2025 dated 16.10.2025 and based on his representation dated 12.11.2025, within the stipulated time limit as fixed by this Court.)

Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issuance of Writ of Mandamus, to direct respondent to extend the time limit for submission of online application for the Direct Recruitment to the Post of Assistant Professor in Government Arts and Science College till 30.11.2025 enabling the petitioner to apply online and upload the teaching experience certificate within the time period stipulated by this Court.

Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issuance of Writ of Mandamus, to direct the second respondent to enable the petitioners to upload/edit their applications for the post of Assistant Professor in Government Arts & Science Colleges and Government Colleges of Education pursuant to Notification No.04/2025 dated 16.10.2025 by considering the petitioners representation dated 18.11.2025, 25.11.2025, 28.11.2025 and 28.11.2025 within the period that may be stipulated by this Court.)

Common Order

1. The Teachers Recruitment Board [in short ‘TRB’] has issued a notification in No.4 of 2025 dated 16.10.2025 inviting online applications for the post of Assistant Professors in the Tamil Nadu Collegiate Educational Services for Government Arts & Science Colleges and Government Colleges of Education. The petitioners herein have applied for the said post through online. However, their applications have not been submitted properly. Therefore, the petitioners have filed these writ petitions seeking time to submit their applications with experience certificate.

2. The petitioners claim that they have been working as Guest Lecturers either in Government Arts Colleges or in Private Aided Colleges. For this opportunity, they have been waiting for more than 13 years. TRB has issued a notification for the recruitment of post of Assistant Professors in the year 2019. However, the examination was not conducted as per that notification and it was postponed. Again another notification was issued in the year 2024. It was not conducted and it was again postponed and finally, applications have been called for by the present notification dated 16.10.2025.

3. According to the petitioners, they have successfully applied for this post in the year 2019 and also in the year 2024. However, their applications could not be submitted properly for this time for want of experience certificate. Since the petitioners are having experience, they have submitted the applications that they are having experience. However, the experience certificate were not issued by the Joint Director of Collegiate Education and therefore, they could not scan and upload the experience certificate as required in the application. Therefore, for want of this experience certificate their applications have not been submitted properly. However, they have issued with a registration number.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioners by referring to the addendum issued by TRB on 27.10.2025 and 28.10.2025, submits that TRB has realized the difficulties in getting the experience certificate from the respective Joint Directors and have extended the time limit for uploading the experience certificate alone upto 05.12.2025. The petitioners claim that they are having the experience certificate and they have also clicked the column “experience”, however, they could not submit the application for want of this scanned copy of the experience certificate. When the TRB is extending the time for submitting the experience certificate for others, the petitioners must also be provided with an opportunity to submit their applications. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that all these petitioners are having experience, waiting for more than 13 years for this post, they have applied for the post during 2019 and 2024 and they are also prepared to submit the applications along with required experience certificate in person, if the TRB accept the same by tomorrow itself. The learned counsel for the petitioners have also relied on a similar order passed by this Court in WP.(MD)No.20028 of 2021 dated 29.11.2021 in support of their contentions.

5. In response to these writ petitions, the learned Additional Advocate General submits that the prayer in these writ petitions are different and it cannot be tagged together and cannot be taken up together. The learned Additional Advocate General has also demonstrated through the application filed in WP.(MD)No.35206 of 2025 and submitted that the onus is on the part of the petitioner in uploading the application in a proper manner and the petitioners cannot seek time for submitting their applications after expiry of the time stipulated in the notification. Their applications are not completed and therefore, they have not been taken into account. According to the respondents, there is no application at all insofar as the petitioners are concerned and therefore, they are not entitled for any extension of time as against the notification issued by the TRB. The learned Additional Advocate General submits that the notification by itself is a statute and candidates are bound by that and there cannot be any violation of the notification and the time limit which has been prescribed in the notification cannot be extended and there cannot be any order contrary to the statute. In support of his submission, he has relied on the following judgments:-

                     i)Dr.M.Vennila Vs. TNPSC reported in 2006 (3) CTC 449.

                     ii)Director of Medical Education Vs. M.Aarthy reported in 2019 SCC OnLine Mad 28115.

                     iii)WA.(MD)No.1491 of 2022 dated 15.10.2025 in The Chairman, TRB, 4th Floor, EVK Sampath Maligai, College Road, Chennai-6 Vs. S.Madheena Banu and another.

6. This Court has considered the submissions made on either side and perused the available records.

7. Though the relief sought for in all these writ petition are couched in different form, they have all applied for the post of Assistant Professors in the Government Arts and Science Colleges and Government Colleges of Education pursuant to the notification dated 16.10.2025. This notification has been issued by the TRB for direct recruitment to 2708 posts of Assistant Professors in Tamil Nadu Collegiate Educational Service for Government Arts & Science Colleges and Government Colleges of Education, as per GO.Ms.No.230, Higher Education F2 Department dated 16.06.2025. By this Government Order, the earlier notification No.2 of 2024 dated 14.03.2024 of TRB was cancelled. For the very same post of Assistant Professors, a notification was issued by TRB in the year 2019 vide notification No.12 of 2019 dated 28.08.2019 and 04.10.2019. However, the examinations were not conducted as scheduled as per the notification No.12 of 2019. Again, a further notification was issued vide GO.Ms.Nos.246, 247 and 248 in the year 2024, vide notification No.2 of 2024. This notification was also subsequently cancelled. Thereafter, this fresh notification has been issued vide GO.Ms.231, Higher Education Department dated 16.10.2025.

8. All these petitioners before this Court have applied for the post successfully as per notification No.12 of 2019 and as per the notification No.2 of 2024. A fee concession has also been provided for these candidates as per notification No.12 of 2019 and notification No.2 of 2024. However, their applications have not been successfully submitted to the TRB for the present notificatin. The petitioners claim that they are all having experience as Guest Lecturers either in Government College or in Private Aided College. As per this notification dated 16.10.2025, weightage mark has been provided for the teaching experience and the same is extracted hereunder:-

C.TEACHING EXPERIENCE: (As on the date of Notification)

                     i.The teaching experience certificate shall be taken into account for the relevant subjects for which the candidate has opted for the calculation of weightage marks.

                     ii.The teaching experience shall be calculated as on the date of notification.

                     iii.The candidates can upload the teaching experience certificate till the last date of submission of online application (10.11.2025).

9. According to the learned counsel for the petitioners, there is a column in the online applications on the teaching experience. The learned counsel claim that since the petitioners are having experience, they have clicked the said column, however, they are not in a position to upload the teaching experience certificate, since the experience certificates were not issued by the respective Joint Directors. Similar difficulty has also been faced by the other candidates. Therefore, the TRB has also extended the time for submitting the experience certificate by issuing an addendum on 27.10.2025 and 28.10.2025 by extending the time for uploading this experience certificate upto 13.11.2025 and thereafter it has been extended by another addendum dated 29.11.2025 upto 05.12.2025.

10. All these candidates claim that they are also having experience and they had certain difficulties in uploading the experience certificate, even after the extension of time. The status of the applications of these petitioners are extracted hereunder:-



They are all issued with registration number, however, they could not successfully upload the document since they have clicked the column “experience”, however, they could not upload the experience certificate. When TRB has extended the time for submitting experience certificate alone upto 05.12.2025, this Court is of the view that the petitioners shall also be provided an opportunity to upload the application along with experience certificate. Moreover, the petitioners have successfully applied for this TRB examination in the year 2019 pursuant to the notification No.12 of 2019 and also in the year 2024 pursuant to the notification No.2 of 2024. They are all waiting for this opportunity for the past 13 years.

11. No doubt the Division Bench of this Court in Dr.M.Vennila Vs. Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission reported in 2006 (3) CTC 449 has held that the prospectus is the rule of appointment and there cannot be any violation. However, this Court in WP.(MD)No.20028 of 2021 dated 29.11.2021 in R.Sadam Husshine Vs. TNPSC and another has held as under:-

                     12.No doubt, it is settled position of law that the candidates are bound by the notification scrupulously. But in this case, due to pandemic situation, written examination as mentioned in the originalnotification has been modified by TNPSC from 25.04.2020 to 09.01.2021 and the results have also been declared conveniently, after nine months, i.e on 22.09.2021. Oral test has not been conducted so far. As per the notification, there is a physical verification of the certificates before conducting oral test. In this case, the petitioner could not upload the certificates through online, in view of the difficulties expressed by the petitioner as stated supra. The petitioner was working in Hydrabad at the relevant point of time. The reasons stated by the petitioner seems to be genuine. The object of conducting examination through TNPSC is to select the right candidates for the right post, enabling them to discharge their duty effectively. In this case, just because the petitioner could not upload the certificates within the time limit, it should not result in ruining the professional career of a meritorious candidate. Considering the fact that he is a successful candidate in written examination and he made every effort to upload the certificates, more particularly, he had sent the photocopies of certificates to the respondent, through RPAD, he should be given an opportunity to upload the certificates.

                     13. In the judgment passed in Civil Appeal Nos.2704-06 of 1979, dated 21.04.1989, Anandi Mukta Sadguru Shree Muktajee Vandas Swami Suvarna Jayanti Mahotsav Smarak Trust and others vas. V.R.Rudani and others, our Honourable Apex Court has held as follows:-

                     22.....The Judicial control over the fast expanding maze of bodies affecting the rights of the people should not be put into watertight compartment. It should remain flexible to meet the requirements of variable circumstances. Mandamus is a very wide remedy which must be easily available 'to reach injustice whenever it is found'. Technicalities should not come in the way of granting that relief under Article 226. We, therefore, reject the contention urged for the appellants on the maintainability of the writ petition.

                     14.In view of the forgoing reasons and the various decisions of the Honourable Apex Court cited supra and also taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, this writ petition is allowed, with a direction to the respondent to permit the petitioner to upload the certificates as exceptional and special case, within a period of one week from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. The petitioner is directed to be present before the respondent/TNPSC within a period of one week from the date of receipt of a copy of this order and shall produce the certificates in person to the respondent. On such production of the certificates, the respondent Board shall proceed with the other stage of the notification, immediately. No costs.

12. In view of the above, all these writ petitions are allowed and the petitioners are permitted to submit their applications in person before the TRB. It is open to the TRB to accept the applications either in person or through online mode. The petitioners have to be present before the respondent/TRB and submit their applications along with required documents, on or before 11.12.2025, at 05.00 pm. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.