The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.P.(C) No.2813 of 2025 Dr. Aiswarya Choudhury …. Petitioner Mr. D. Mishra, Advocate State of Odisha & Others -versus- …. Opposite Parties Mr. S. Das, ASC CORAM: JUSTICE BIRAJA PRASANNA SATAPATHY Order No. ORDER 03.03.2025 04. 1. This matter is taken up through Hybrid Arrangement (Virtual/Physical) Mode.
Legal Reasoning
2. Heard learned counsel appearing for the Parties. 3. The present Writ Petition has been filed inter alia challenging the notice dtd.21.01.2025 so issued by Opposite Party No.2 under Annexure-14. Vide the said notice, Petitioner has been allocated Angul district for her engagement. 4. Learned counsel appearing for the Petitioner contended that pursuant to the selection process initiated by the State Selection Board in the Department of Higher Education for recruitment to the post of TGT (Arts), TGT (PCM), TGT (CBZ), Hindi Teachers, Classical Teachers (Sanskrit), Urdu Teachers and P.E.T. in Non-Govt. fully Aided High Schools of the State, Petitioner made her // 2 // application as against the post of Classical Teacher (Sanskrit). 4.1. It is contended that in terms of the provisions contained in the advertisement, Petitioner gave her choice with Kendrapara as Sl. No.1, Cuttack as Sl. No.2, Jajpur as Sl. No.3, Jagatsinghpur as Sl. No.4 etc. vide Annexure-6. 4.2. It is contended that on being found eligible and taking into account the preference given by the Petitioner under Annexure-6, Petitioner was allocated to Kendrapara District vide Annexure-7 notice dtd.09.01.2025. 4.3. It is contended that such notice issued on 09.01.2025 was withdrawn by Opposite Party No.2 vide subsequent notice issued on 10.01.2025 under Annexure-8. Thereafter vide another notice issued on 13.01.2025 under Annexure-10, a request was made to the candidates to provide online choice filling for re- allocation of districts. Contents of the notice dtd.13.01.205 reads as follows:- “NOTICE Candidates recommended by SSB, Odisha for the post of TGT Arts, TGT PCM, TGT CBZ & Classical Teacher (Sanskrit) in Non- Govt. Fully Aided High School vide Notice No:725/SSB Dated 28.11.2024, No.798/SSB Dated 19.12.2024 & No. 799/SSB Dated 19.12.2024 are here by requested that the online choice filling for re-allocation of district shall be conducted through the „Online Counseling for Newly Recruited High School Teachers' link available in the website of his sepa.odisha.gov.in/ or Page 2 of 7 // 3 // https://icportal.odisha.gov.in as per the below mentioned date and time. Candidates are further informed to read the guidelines carefully before exercising their choice. Activity Start Date and Time End Date and Time Choice locking for 13th Jan 2025, 05.00 PM 15th Jan 2025, 05.00PM District Publication of result on 18th Jan 2025 District Allocation Allocation of School at DEO level On or before 24th Jan 2025 It’s Important to note that the District preferences will be recorded/saved in the online counseling portal only when the candidate clicks the ’Submit’ button after making the necessary entries. Candidates not uploading their choice within stipulated date and time shall placed to Districts by the system as per vacancies available”. 4.4. It is contended that since Petitioner was not interested for re-allocation of the district contrary to the choice made under Annexure-6, she did not participate in the said re-allocation process. Accordingly while issuing a WhatsApp message on 18.01.2025 under Annexure-11, Petitioner was allocated Kendrapara district as usual. Subsequently, vide another notice issued on 18.01.2025 under Annexure-12, Petitioner was allocated with Angul district. But notice issued on 18.01.2025 was withdrawn without assigning any reason and vide notice dtd.20.01.2025 under Annexure-13 and vide the impugned notice dtd.21.01.2025 under Annexure-14, Petitioner was allocated to Anugul district. Page 3 of 7 // 4 // 4.5. It is contended that since in terms of the choice provided by the Petitioner under Annexure-6, she was allocated to Kendrapara district vide notice issued on 09.01.2025 under Annexure-7 and the same was upheld in notice dtd.18.01.2025 under Annexure-11 on the face of the notice issued on 13.01.2025 under Annexure-10, there was no occasion for allocating the Petitioner to Angul District which was never the choice of the Petitioner and it was the last choice in terms of the district preferred by the Petitioner under Annexure-6. 4.6. It is accordingly contended that since Petitioner never participated for re-allocation of the district in terms of the notice dtd.13.01.2025 so issued by Opposite Party No.2 under Annexure-10, there was no occasion to re- allocate her to Angul District in place of Kendrapara District. 4.7. It is accordingly contended that the impugned notice dtd.21.01.2025 allocating the Petitioner to Angul District is not sustainable in the eye of law and it requires interference of this Court. 5. Basing on the instruction provided by Opposite Party No.2 vide letter dtd.06.02.2025, learned State Counsel contended that since Petitioner in terms of the notice dtd.13.01.2025 did not participate in the re- allocation counseling, she was allocated to Angul District by the system as per available vacancies. However, Page 4 of 7 // 5 //
Legal Reasoning
basing on the instruction, it is contended that one post of Classical Teacher (Sanskrit) has been kept vacant under D.E.O, Kendrapara. 5.1. It is however contended that since in terms of the fresh notice issued on 13.01.2025, Petitioner never participated in the on line process for re-allocation of the district, considering the choice provided by the other candidates, Petitioner was allocated to Anugul District in place of Kendrapara. 5.2. It is accordingly contended that no illegality or irregularity can be found with such allocation of district to the Petitioner vide the impugned notice dtd.21.01.2025 under Annexure-14. 6. Having heard learned counsel appearing for the Parties and considering the submissions made, this Court finds that pursuant to the advertisement issued under Annexure-1, Petitioner while making the application as against the post of Classical Teacher (Sanskrit), she gave her choice of districts under Annexure-6. While indicating his 1st choice as Kendrapara, Petitioner’s last choice was Angul. As found, taking into account the choice given by the Petitioner, while issuing the initial notice on 09.01.2025 under Annexure-7, Petitioner was allocated to Kendrapara District. But the said notice issued on 09.01.2025 under Annexure-7 was withdrawn vide notice dtd.10.01.2025 under Annexure-8. Subsequently, vide Page 5 of 7 // 6 // notice dtd.13.01.2025 under Annexure-10, request was made to give online choice filling for re-allocation of the district. On the face of such notice issued under Annexure-10, Petitioner was again allocated to Kendrapara District vide notice dtd. 18.01.2025 under Annexure-11 and subsequently to Angul district vide another notice issued on 18.01.2025 under Annexure-12. But the notice dtd.18.01.2025 was withdrawn vide notice dtd.20.01.2025 under Annexure-13 and vide the impugned notice dtd.21.01.2025, Petitioner was allocated to Anugul district on the ground that in terms of notice dtd.13.01.2025, Petitioner never participated in the counseling process for re-allocation of the district. 6.1. This Court after going through the contents of the notice dtd.13.01.2025 under Annexure-10 finds that all the candidates who participated in the selection process were never asked to participate for online choice filling for re-allocation of the district. Since notice dtd.13.01.2025 is with regard to re-allocation of the district, which was not availed by the Petitioner, as per the considered view of this Court, on the ground of non-participation in the said online process, Petitioner’s preference cannot be changed. 6.2. Therefore, this Court is inclined to quash notice dtd.21.01.2025 so far as it relates to allocation of the Petitioner to Angul District under Annexure-14. While quashing the same, and taking into account the Page 6 of 7 // 7 // instruction provided by the Director-Opposite Party No.2 vide his letter dtd.06.02.2025 that a post of Classical Teacher (Sanskrit) has been kept vacant under D.E.O., Kendrapara, this Court directs Opposite Party No.2 to take appropriate action by allocating the Petitioner to Kendrapara District. This Court directs Opposite Party No.2 to issue a fresh notice by allocating the Petitioner to Kendrapara district within a period of fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt of this order. It is needless to mention that basing on such re-allocation to Kendrapara District, Opposite Party No.3 shall take consequential action within a period of 2 (two) weeks thereafter.
Decision
7. Accordingly, the Writ Petition stands disposed of. (Biraja Prasanna Satapathy) Judge Subrat Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SUBRAT KUMAR BARIK Reason: Authentication Location: HIGH COURT OF ORISSA, CUTTACK Date: 04-Mar-2025 16:47:38 Page 7 of 7