The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.A. No. 2078 of 2024 Ramayana Prasada Baral …. Mr. Durga Prasad Nanda, Senior Advocate Assisted by Mr. Bikash Jena, Advocate Appellant -versus- State of Odisha and others Respondents Mr. M.K. Khuntia, Additional Government Advocate …. CORAM: HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON’BLE MISS JUSTICE SAVITRI RATHO Order No.
Decision
ORDER 26.09.2024 06. This matter is taken up through Hybrid mode. 2. The appellant, in the present intra-court appeal, has put to challenge an order dated 25.06.2024 passed by a learned Single Judge of this Court in W.P.(C) No.38869 of 2020 whereby, the appellant’s writ petition has been dismissed. 3. The short facts of the case in brief are that the present appellant had applied for the post of Fireman in Odisha Fire Service Organisation against an advertisement issued on 12.12.2014. It appears that the appellant’s height was measured as 178.4 cm. Taking into account the said height, the appellant was awarded 55.25 marks. He was awarded 16 marks against his height of 178.4 cm. After his short-listing, he was directed to report to the Fore Officer for completion of formalities before issuance of appointment letter. During completion of the formalities, it emerged Page 1 of 5 that the correct height of the appellant was 174.5 cm and not 178.4 cm which was initially measured. 4. The consequence of measurement of the appellant’s height, at the time of completion of the formalities, was that the appellant’s mark against the height was reduced to 14 from 16 and, consequently, his total mark was brought down to 53.25. 5. It is not in dispute that the minimum cut-off marks fixed for selection was 54.5 marks. Since on the basis of re-measurement of height, the appellant was not found to have got the qualifying marks of 54.5, he was not issued appointment letter. 6. Aggrieved by non-issuance of appointment letter, the appellant approached this Court by filing the aforesaid writ petition being W.P.(C) No.38869 of 2020, which has been dismissed by the learned Single Judge taking into account, inter alia, Rule 10.3 of Odisha Fire Service (Method of Recruitment of Fireman), Order, 2006 which stipulates that the candidature of a candidate shall be cancelled, if in the opinion of Selection Board is found ineligible for consideration under eligibility criteria prescribed in the order. 7. The learned Single Judge, while dismissing the writ petition, has relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in case of Shankarsan Dash v. Union of India; (1991) 3 SCC 47. 8. We have heard Mr. Durga Prasad Nanda, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant and Mr. M.K. Khuntia, learned Additional Government Advocate (AGA), appearing on behalf of the respondents-State of Odisha. Page 2 of 5 9. Mr. Nanda, learned Senior Counsel has submitted that the Rule 10.3 of the Order 2006 has no application for the reason that it is not a case of cancellation of the appellant’s candidature on the ground of ineligibility. It is rather a case of revision of marks which was initially allotted to the appellant after the selection process was over. He has submitted that the actual height of the appellant is 175.2 cm. An affidavit to this extent has been filed in the present intra-court appeal. 10. Mr. Khuntia, learned AGA has submitted, per contra, that after it was detected that the appellant’s height was less than what was found initially at the time of selection, no appointment letter was issued in his favour. The appellant had earlier approached this Court by filing a writ petition giving rise to W.P.(C) No.24753 of 2019 which was disposed of by an order dated 17.12.2019 with a direction to the Director General of Police, Home Guards and Fire Services to consider the appellant’s representation and take a lawful decision. 11. Pursuant thereto, for the purpose of consideration of the appellant’s representation, a committee was constituted under the chairmanship of the I.G.P., Fire Services, Odisha for re- measurement of the appellant’s height. The said Committee had re- measured the appellant’s height and recorded it as 174.5 cm. Mr. Khuntia further submits that taking into account the appellant’s height as 174.5 cm, the D.G., Fire Services reached a conclusion that the total marks of the appellant being 53.25, which is below the Page 3 of 5 cut-off marks of 54.5, he was rightly declined issuance of appointment letter in his favour. 12. After having perused the pleadings on record and the submissions advanced on behalf of the parties, the only dispute of fact which has been raised on behalf of the appellant is that his actual height is 175.2 cm whereas it is the case of the respondents- State that his actual height is 174.5 cm. 13. It is the case of the appellant that if the appellant’s height is treated to be 175.2 cm, his score would be equal to the cut-off marks and then he shall become entitled to the appointment based on the selection process. 14. We are, however, not ready to accept the appellant’s contention for the reason that as has been noted above, the appellant’s height at the time of completion of formalities was measure and was found to be 174.5 cm. Later, complying with this Court’s order, the appellant’s representation was considered and he was subjected to re-measurement of his height by a Committee constituted by the I.G.P., Fire Services, Odisha. The Committee also found his height to be 174.5 cm. 15. In our opinion, the learned Single Judge has rightly declined to interfere with the decision of the respondents. We are further of the view that merely because the appellant was short-listed for appointment, he did not acquire any indefeasible right to be appointed in view of the Constitution Bench decision in case of Shankarsan Dash (supra). Page 4 of 5 16. We accordingly do not find any legal infirmity in the impugned judgment passed by the learned Single Judge requiring this Court’s interference in the present intra-court appeal. 17. This appeal is accordingly dismissed. Chief Justice (Chakradhari Sharan Singh) Judge S. Behera (Savitri Ratho) Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SUMANTA BEHERA Designation: Senior Stenographer Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Date: 27-Sep-2024 15:17:05 Page 5 of 5