The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.P.(C) No.34583 of 2023 Chittaranjan Panda …. Petitioner Mr. S.K. Tripathy, Advocate State of Odisha and Another -versus- …. Opposite Parties Mr. S.K. Samal, AGA CORAM: JUSTICE BIRAJA PRASANNA SATAPATHY ORDER 05.12.2023 Order No. 04. 1. This matter is taken up through Hybrid Arrangement (Virtual/Physical) Mode. 2. On the oral prayer made by learned counsel for the petitioner, he is permitted to implead DEO-cum- DPC, Kalahandi as Opp. Party No.3 in Court today.
Legal Reasoning
3. Heard Mr. S.K. Tripathy, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. S.K. Samal, learned Addl. Govt. Advocate for the State. 4. The Petitioner has filed the present Writ Petition inter alia with the following prayer: - <The petitioner therefore prays that your Lordship may kindly be consider this writ application, admit the same, issue notice to the opposite parties more particularly the opp. party no.2 to file show cause if they fails to file the show cause or show insufficient cause issue a writ of mandamus parties more opposite directing particularly to the opp. party no.2 to allow the petitioner to join in any district as he in his mentioned application.= in preference column the // 2 // 5. It is contended that pursuant to the advertisement issued for engagement of Sikshya Sahayak for the year 2014-15, the petitioner made his application by indicating his preference as under:- 1. Type of post applied for Arts 2(a) First District of Preference Kendrapara 2(b) Second District of Preference Jajpur 2(c) Third District of Preference Bhadrak 2(d) Fourth District of Preference Keonjhar 2(e) Fifth District of Preference Koraput But initially the candidature of the petitioner when was rejected on the ground of being over aged, the matter was carried to this Court and thereafter when the petitioner failed to get relief before the learned Single Judge, the matter was carried in W.A. No.701 of 2019 and batch. 5.1. It is contended that pursuant to the order passed by the Writ Appellate Court under Annexure- 2, petitioner vide letter dated 02.11.2021 under Annexure-3 was directed to appear before the Collector-cum-CEO, Zilla Parishad, Keonjhar for verification of his documents for the purpose of his engagement as Sikshya Sahayak in the district of Keonjhar. It is also contended that the petitioner in his application had indicated Keonjhar as his 4th district of preference. Page 2 of 5 // 3 // 5.2. Be that as it may, pursuant to the letter issued under Annexure-3 petitioner when appeared before the concerned authority for verification of his documents, it was indicated to him that there is no vacancy available at Keonjhar and accordingly his documents were not verified. 5.3. While the matter stood thus, petitioner again vide letter dated 05.07.2023 under Annexure-4, was directed to appear before the DEO-cum-DPC, Kalahandi for verification of his documents for the purpose of his engagement in the district of Kalahandi. Petitioner on the ground that he had never given his option for the district of Kalahandi, raised a grievance before the concerned authority. When the same was not acted upon, the present Writ Petition has been filed inter alia with the prayer as indicated hereinabove. 5.4. However, in course of hearing, when learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner is very much ready and willing to join in the district of Kalahandi, even though he had not opted for the said district while making the application under Annexure-1, this Court directed learned Addl. Govt. Advocate to obtain instruction as to whether at present the petitioner can be accommodated at Kalahandi. Instruction provided by the Competent authority and produced before this Court be kept in record. It is contended that since the Page 3 of 5 // 4 // petitioner did not appear for verification of documents in terms of Annexure-4, his candidature has been rejected w.e.f. 11.07.2023. It is accordingly contended by learned Addl. Govt. Advocate that since the petitioner on the face of Annexure-4 did not appear for verification of his documents, he has got no further claim for his appointment. 6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and after going through the materials available on record, this Court finds that pursuant to the selection process initiated by the Opposite Parties, petitioner vide letter dated 02.11.2021 under Annexure-3 was directed to appear before the Competent Authority for verification of documents on 08.11.2021 for his engagement in the district of Keonjhar. But petitioner inspite of his appearance was not allowed with verification of his documents for his engagement in the district of Keonjhar. Petitioner when was again issued with the notice under Annexure-4 on 05.07.2023, directing him to appear on 07.07.2023 for his engagement in the district of Kalahandi, he made grievance that he had never opted for Kalahandi district while making his application. As found from Annexure-4 petitioner was only allowed 2 (two) days time to appear before the concerned authority for verification of documents. However, taking into considerations the fact that the petitioner had never opted for Kalahandi district, he raised a Page 4 of 5 // 5 // grievance before the Competent Authority for consideration of his engagement in any of the five districts, which he had opted for in his application under Annexure-1. 6.1. Be that as it may, taking into consideration the submission of learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is ready and willing to join in the district of Kalahandi, this Court is of the view that petitioner’s claim needs a favourable consideration. Therefore, while disposing the Writ Petition, this Court directs the DEO-cum-DPC, Kalahandi, present Opp. Party No.3 to allow the petitioner to verify his documents on 15.12.2023. Petitioner is directed to appear before the DEO on the said date along with the certified copy of this order for verification of his documents. It is observed that on such verification of documents if the petitioner is found otherwise eligible, then consequential order of engagement be issued in favour of the petitioner by 22.12.2023. 7. With the aforesaid observation and direction, the
Decision
Writ Petition is disposed of. Basudev Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: BASUDEV SWAIN Designation: Senior Stenographer Reason: Authentication of order Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Date: 19-Dec-2023 15:43:07 (Biraja Prasanna Satapathy) Judge Page 5 of 5