The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.P.(C) No. 17752 of 2025 M/s. Odisha College of Nursing, Cuttack …. Petitioner Represented by – Mr. Ramanath Acharya, Advocate. -Versus- State of Odisha & others …. Opp. Parties Represented by– Mr. Subha Bikash Panda, Addl. Govt. Advocate (O.P.1), Mr. R.C. Mohanty, Advocate (for O.Ps.2 & 3) CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE MANASH RANJAN PATHAK AND HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE MRUGANKA SEKHAR SAHOO Order No.
Decision
ORDER 06.08.2025 02. 1. Heard Mr. Acharya, learned counsel for the Petitioner at length, giving him time to his satisfaction as he requested. 2. Petitioner-institution is aggrieved by the order of rejection dated 04.06.2025 declining issuance of „No Objection Certificate‟ („NOC‟) to be granted by Opposite Party Nos.2 and 3 for imparting education / training in Post Basic BSC Nursing (PBBSC) for the academic session 2025-26. 3. Learned counsel for the Petitioner refers to the reason for rejection of the NOC, i.e. as mentioned in Annexure-1 dated 04.06.2025 : “the Teaching Experience Certificate of Principal of 15 years not submitted”, Page 1 of 7 submits that the certificate of experience of Principal along with all the credentials indicating the experience were submitted before the authority which have not been taken into consideration. 4. In view of such submission, the learned counsel for the Petitioner was requested whether the Petitioner has stated on oath regarding submission of the experience certificate of the Principal before the authority with all the necessary particulars. Learned counsel submits that it has been stated at paragraphs 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 of the writ petition. The said paragraphs are herein reproduced from the writ petition – “4. That, it is humbly submitted that the petitioner has been functioning as Director of M/s. Odisha College of Nursing, Salipur, Cuttack after getting due approval of the State Govt. xx xx xx xx xx xx 6. That, the petitioner being interested upon the advertisement dtd.27.07.2024 under Annexure-2 for opening of P.B.B.Sc. Nursing Course in his institution, so the Petitioner submitted his online application for grant of NOC for opening of P.B.B.Sc. Nursing Course on dtd.14.08.2024 enclosing all the relevant documents as required in terms to the said advertisement. The copy of the online application of the Petitioner dtd.14.08.2024 is annexed herewith as Annexure-3 series. xx xx xx xx xx xx 8. That, it is humbly submitted that, after receiving the application of the petitioner under Annexure-3, it was thoroughly examined by the committee and found there are certain deficiencies in the application form, so the opp. party No.2 served a letter to the petitioner’s institution vide letter No.6522 dtd.03.12.2024 issued by the Registrar, ONMRC with a direction to comply the deficiencies (self-attested Page 2 of 7 photocopies) by e-mail within 7 days of issue of the letter as per Govt. notification dtd.06.04.2021. The copy of the letter No.6522 dtd.03.12.2024 issued by the Registrar, ONMRC is annexed herewith as Annexure-5. xx xx xx xx xx xx 10. That, it is further submitted that the Opp. Party No.2 was passed an order on 20.01.2025 stating therein that, after carefully scrutinizing the documents filed by the Petitioner and found that there are further 2 Nos. deficiency of documents required as per the terms of advertisement the dtd.27.07.2024. The deficiency as pointed out by Opp.Party No.2 in the Letter dtd20.01.2025 is stated as follows; I. DEBA SHREE DAS IS NOT ELIGIBLE AS A PRINCIPAL FOR THE PB.B.SC-N COURSE. II. COMPLETE GEO TAGGED PHOTO OF INSTITUTE FROM OUTSIDE (EACH BLOCK). The Xerox Copy of the Letter No.310 dtd.20.01.2025 of the Regd. ONMRC is annexed herewith as Annexure-6. xx xx xx xx xx xx 12. That, it is most relevant to state that while the application for consideration for opening of New Course of P.B.B.SC Nursing for 2025-26, for granting no objection certificate in favour of the Petitioner Institution, during that time the Principal Debashree Das submitted her resignation from the post of Principal from Odisha College of Nursing and the said resignation was accepted by the Petitioner, who has been acting as Director of Odisha College of Nursing, Cuttack. The Petitioner has selected a new Principal to Mrs. Sumathy R. of the said institutions and she was appointed on 01.05.2025 in the post of Principal of Odisha College of Nursing and joined in the said post. The New Principal has also acquiring the qualifications of Bachelor of Science in Page 3 of 7 Nursing on 23.03.2000 and having valid Certificate of Registration for Nurse vide Regd. No. 46987 dtd.14.06.2000 and also having MASTER OF SCIENCE IN NURSING in the branch of PAEDIATRIC NURSING from The Tamil Nadu Cr. A.B.R. Medical University, Chennai on March, 2008 vide Regd. No. 30062612. Besides the above, she had also certified by Tamil Nadu Nurses And Midwives Council Certificate of Renewal Registration for Nurse and Midwife vide Regd. No. 46987, RM No. 53478 dtd. 14.06.2000 has been renewed on 14.12.2021. The Petitioner submitted on 23.05.2025 with all the relevant documents with educational certificate having B.Sc Nursing and M.Sc Nursing with renewal of the Regd. Certificate of the New Principal before the Opp.Party No.2, which was accepted and ensured by the authority that Step will be taken to Grant N.O.C. for Opening of P.B.B.Sc Nursing for 2025-26 in the name of the Petitioner Institutions. The Copy of the Letter dtd.23.05.2025 of the Petitioner along with all the Educational Certificate and renewal Regd. Certificate of Nursing of New Principal Mrs. Sumathy R. is annexed herewith as Annexure-8 Series.” 5. Upon going through the said paragraphs, it is apparent that regarding submission of the experience certificate of the Principal by the due date, no where it has been stated apart from the statement in paragraph-6 that – “…Petitioner submitted his online application for grant of NOC for opening of P.B.B.Sc Nursing Course on dtd.14.08.2024 enclosing all the relevant documents as required in terms to the said advertisement. Copy of the online application of the Petitioner dtd.14.08.2024 is annexed herewith as Annexure-3 Series.” Page 4 of 7 The application (Annexure-3) refers to the name of the Principal as „Sripriya C‟ having educational qualification – M.Sc Nursing, Aadhar No. 537458639574, Mobile No. 9090405060. 6. Curiously enough, in paragraph-13 of the writ petition, the name of the Principal has been stated to be “Debashree Das”. Thereafter it is stated in paragraph-12 that the Principal Debashree Das submitted her resignation from the post of Principal without specifying the date of such resignation or acceptance thereof by the authority/institution. Paragraph-12 of the writ petition refers to another person, i.e. Mrs. Sumathy R. and it has been stated that she was appointed as Principal on 01.05.2025. 7. Learned counsel for the Petitioner relies on the order dated 29.01.2024 of the coordinate Bench passed in W.P.(C) No.1596 of 2024, to submit that his case would be covered by the decision in the said order. At paragraph-4 of the said order, the following fact, as found in the said case, has been indicated : “……Therefore, at the time of enquiry, even though the new Principal, who has already joined, participated in the personal hearing, his presence was not taken note of…...” 8. Mr. S.B. Panda, learned Addl. Govt. Advocate appearing on behalf of Opposite Party No.1, in response, submits that Annexure-5 to the writ petition dated 03.12.2024 was issued by Opposite Party No.3 indicating the grounds of rejection of NOC to the Petitioner- institution is not under challenge. 9. Mr. R.C. Mohanty, learned counsel appears for Opposite Party Nos. 2 and 3. Vakalatnama of Mr. Mohanty is taken on record. Page 5 of 7 10. Learned counsel Mr. Mohanty denies to the suggestions/ submissions made by the learned counsel for the Petitioner that Experience Certificate of the Principal was submitted and that was not duly considered. It is submitted by Mr. Mohanty that the Petitioner- institution on its own showing refers to as many as three different persons as Principals. He also relies on the order dated 29.01.2024 passed by the coordinate Bench. 11. Having heard the learned counsel for the Petitioner as well as the Opposite Parties, in our considered view, no case is made out for interference regarding Experience Certificate of the Principal and its production before the authority. No positive averment has been made in the writ petition regarding who is the Principal, whose experience certificate was produced nor any details of date of production of the certificate. As noted above, the petitioner-institution refers to as many as three Principals, i.e. namely „Debashree Das‟, „Mrs. Sumathy R‟ and „Sripriya C‟. It is rightly contended by the learned Addl. Govt. Advocate that Annexure-5 has not been challenged. 12. It is correctly contended by Mr. Mohanty, learned counsel for Opp. Parties 2 and 3, that when as many as three Principals were presented by the Petitioner-institution on their own showing without there being certainty of the Principal, who runs the institute, there cannot be any further assessment by the authority. 13. In our considered view, the order of the co-ordinate Bench would not suffice to the benefit of the Petitioner-institution, in as much as, the said case proceeded in the premises where the Principal had already Page 6 of 7 joined, participated in the personal hearing and his presence was not taken note of. 14. At this stage, the learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the authorized representative of the institution shall appear before the authority and shall produce the Experience Certificate of the Principal, who may be continuing as the Principal of the institution. 15. In view of the above, the writ petition has to be and is dismissed. While dismissing this writ petition, we further observe that, if the Petitioner-institution is so advised and will approach the authority for grant of NOC with the necessary documents regarding Experience of the Principal who is continuing in the institution, the same shall be considered in its proper perspective, and decision shall be made in accordance with law by the authority as early as would be possible. 16. We hasten to add that, we have not expressed any opinion regarding merits of the contention(s) that may be raised by the Petitioner before the authority. Judge (Manash Ranjan Pathak) Judge (Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo) S.K. Parida Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SAMIR KUMAR PARIDA Designation: ADR-cum-Addl. Principal Secretary Reason: Authentic Copy Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK Date: 07-Aug-2025 17:57:17 Page 7 of 7