A Government Order (G.O.), issued by the Tamil Nadu government on December 24, 2025, promoting seven senior IAS officers to the Chief Secretary grade, has been challenged in the Madras High Court through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition.
The petitioner, one M. Balakrishnan of Anna Nagar in Chennai, claimed the G.O. ought not to have been issued without concurrence/approval of the Centre and had listed the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions as well as the Union Cabinet Secretary as respondents to the case.
The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan began the hearing and later adjourned it to June 10, 2026, after questioning as to how a PIL petition could be entertained by the court on an issue related to officers in government service.
The judges cited the Supreme Court’s ruling, in a catena of decisions beginning from Dr. Duryodhan Sahu versus Jintendra Kumar (1998), that government service matters could not be generally raised before the constitutional courts by way of PIL petitions.
The court further stated that concerns related to officers in government service could be raised only before the CAT or by way of filing writ petitions before a single judge of the High Court. The Bench also added that the top court had time and again clarified that PILs should not be used as a shortcut.
It was after the officers’ counsel sought time for the appearance of his senior to argue the matter that the judges adjourned the hearing to June 10. The court took note that Additional Solicitor General A.R.L. Sundaresan, assisted by central government senior panel counsel C. Kulandaivelu, had entered appearance on behalf of the Centre.
The December 2025 G.O. had been issued for promoting IAS officers M.A. Siddique, R. Jaya, P. Senthilkumar, Sandhya Venugopal Sharma, Udhayachandran, Hitesh Kumar S. Makwana, and B. Chandra Mohan to the Chief Secretary grade of IAS with effect from January 1, 2026.
The G.O. also accorded sanction for creating temporary posts of Additional Chief Secretary in the departments of Economics and Statististics, Health and Family Welfare, and School Education so that IAS officers R Jaya, Senthilkumar, and Chandra Mohan could continue to occupy those positions at that point in time.
The order also stated Makwana shall stand promoted to the Chief Secretary cadre without prejudice to his central deputation as Surveyor General of India. Then, Siddique and Udhayachandran were serving as Managing Director of Chennai Metro Rail Limited and Finance Secretary respectively. Sharma was the chairperson of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation.
The petitioner has also sought a court’s direction to the Principal Accountant General’s office in Tamil Nadu not to pay a higher salary, allowances, perquisites, arrears, or other pensionary/monetary benefits to the seven IAS officers on the basis of the G.O. under challenge.
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