The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.P.(C) No.18700 of 2020 Abhijit Pradhan …. Petitioner(s) Mr. Nihal Rath, Adv. Ms. Amrita Nayak, Adv. -versus- The State of Odisha & Ors. …. Opposite Party(s) Mr. Dhananjaya Mund, AGA CORAM: DR. JUSTICE S.K. PANIGRAHI
Decision
Order No. ORDER 16.04.2024 04. 1. This matter is taken up through hybrid arrangement. 2. Through this Writ Petition, the Petitioner has made the following prayer:- “The Petitioner therefore prays that your lordship may graciously be pleased to admit the Writ Application, call for the records from the Opposite Parties and after hearing the Parties, issue a Writ/Writs in the nature of cerrorrai/mandamus quashing the Letter issued by the Opposite Party No.4 under Annexure-1 insisting the Petitioner to apply in Group “D” basing upon Annexure- 5 and further be pleased to hold that Annexure-5 has no application to the case of the Petitioner as his application is prior to coming of Annexure-5 and also direct the Opposite Party No.4 to consider the application of the Petitioner for the post applied for by him under Group “C” on its own merits taking into considerations the documents under Annexure-2(S) & 3 & 4 (S). 3. Learned counsel for the Petitioner, at the outset, Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 18-Apr-2024 17:52:13 submits that the father of the Petitioner died while working as an Assistant Sub-Inspector in Police on Page 1 of 5 19.01.2006. Thereafter, becoming major the present Petitioner on 13.10.2017 applied for appointment in the post of Junior Clerk in Group ‘C’ category under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme. The said application was made in the prescribed format as per the provision under the Odisha Civil Services (Rehabilitation Assistance) Rules, 1990. 4. It is pertinent to mention here that as per the provision under Rule 5 of the Odisha Civil Services (Rehabilitation Assistance) Rules, 1990, upon death of a regular Government employee while working in service, his/her legal heir may be appointed in any Group ‘C’ or Group ‘D’ posts as per their qualification. The Petitioner has applied for the above noted post as per the provision under Rule 5 of the Odisha Civil Services (Rehabilitation Assistance) Rules, 1990 and also the notification dated 05.11.2016. 5. Upon submission of the application, the Opposite Party No.5/the Superintendent of Police, PMT Odisha, Cuttack sought for certain clarifications regarding income proof, financial status of the family members of the deceased and medical documents etc. In fact, the entire process of consideration of the application of the Petitioner for appointment under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme in the post of Junior Clerk was completed. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 18-Apr-2024 17:52:13 Page 2 of 5 6. But, suddenly, the Opposite Party No.2 brought a notification superseding the Odisha Civil Services (Rehabilitation Assistance) Rules, 1990. As per the said notification the legal heirs of the employees, who died in service, may be appointed only in Group ‘D’ posts. Accordingly, based on the said notification the Opposite Party No.4/the Additional Superintendent of Police, Puri ignoring the entire process already completed in the meantime, insisted the Petitioner to reapply in the prescribed form for Group ‘D’ post only. Hence, this Writ Petition. 7. At this juncture, learned counsel for the Petitioner referring to the judgments of the Supreme Court as well as this Court in the case of Malaya Nanda Sethy Vrs. State of Orissa and Ors. 1, in the case of Suchitra Bal Vrs. State of Odisha and Ors. 2 and State of Odisha and Ors. Vrs. Bindu Sagar Samantaray 3, Biswajit Swain Vrs. State of Odisha and Ors. 4, submits that though the application of the Petitioner requires to be considered as per the provision under the Odisha Civil Services (Rehabilitation Assistance) Rules, 1990 as amended upto the year 2016, the Opposite Parties do not consider the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 18-Apr-2024 17:52:13 1 2022 (II) OLR (SC) 1 2 W.P.(C) No.2081 of 2021 & batch decided on 27.06.2023 3 W.A. No.810 of 2021 4 W.P.(C) No.5214 of 2021 decided on 31.10.2023 Page 3 of 5 same. As a result of which, the entire family members of the deceased employee are suffering immensely. 8. In his opposition, learned counsel for the State contends that the application of the Petitioner is pending for consideration. He further contends that in the event no final decision has been taken on the said application of the Petitioner by the Opposite Parties till today, he has no objection, if this Court directs the Opposite Party No.5/the Superintendent of Police, PMT, Odisha, Cuttack for considering the application of the Petitioner for appointment as per the provision under the Odisha Civil Services (Rehabilitation Assistance) Rules, 1990 as amended upto the year 2016. 9. Having heard the learned counsel for the respective parties, on careful examination of the documents as well as materials available on record, this Court directs the Petitioner to approach the Opposite Party No.5/the Superintendent of Police, PMT, Odisha along with an authenticated copy of this order within a period of two weeks hence. In the event the Petitioner approaches the Opposite Party No.5 within the time stipulated hereinabove, the Opposite Party No.5 shall do well in considering the grievance of the Petitioner and disposing of the same within a period of two months thereafter keeping in view the judgments referred to hereinabove. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 18-Apr-2024 17:52:13 Page 4 of 5 The final decision shall also be communicated to the Petitioner within a period of ten days thereafter. 10. This Writ Petition is disposed of with the above direction. Ayaskanta Judge (Dr. S.K. Panigrahi) Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 18-Apr-2024 17:52:13 Page 5 of 5