(An application under Articles 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India) Lopamudra Nayak v. State of Odisha & Ors
Case Details
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SANGRAM DAS Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Date: 25-Sep-2024 12:55:59 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.P.(C) No. 42930 of 2023 (An application under Articles 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India) Lopamudra Nayak .…… Petitioner Versus State of Odisha & Ors. ……. Opposite Parties Advocate(s) appeared in this case:- For Petitioner :
Legal Reasoning
Mr.K.K.Swain, Advocate For Opposite Parties : Mr.S.Rath, ASC CORAM : JUSTICE B.P. ROUTRAY JUDGMENT 19th September 2024 B.P. Routray,J. 1. Heard Mr.K.K.Swain, learned counsel for the Petitioner and Mr.S.Rath, learned counsel for Opposite Parties-State. 2. The Petitioner appeared the selection test for the post of TGT (Arts) in UR category so also private Opposite Party No.5, pursuant to the advertisement dated 30th December 2021 under Annexure-1 issued by the Collector, Sundargarh. In the selection process, the Petitioner secured 54.5 marks and placed at Serial No.4 whereas Opposite Party No.5 secured same 54.5 marks and placed at Serial No.5. It needs to be mentioned here that the Petitioner belongs to SEBC category and Opposite Party No.5 belongs to UR(W) W.P.(C) No.42930 of 2023 Page 1 of 5 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SANGRAM DAS Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Date: 25-Sep-2024 12:55:59 category. Then as per the selection procedure, since Opposite Party No.5 belongs to Sundargarh district she was selected in the UR(W) category being preferred over the Petitioner, who belongs to Kendrapara district. 3. Mr.Swain, learned counsel submits on behalf of the Petitioner that such procedure of selection to give preference instead of age is erroneous and since the Petitioner is elder than Opposite Party No.5, she should have been selected to the post instead of Opposite Party No.5. O.P. No. 5 did not enter appearance before this court. 4. Mr.Rath, learned ASC submits that on the basis of preference to the candidates belonging to Sundargarh district Opposite Party No.5’s selection has been confirmed and she has been given appointment. 5. In view of the rival contentions what is required to be seen is that, whether the preference will precede the age or age will precede the preference in terms of the conditions of the selection mentioned in the advertisement under Annexure-1. 6. Clause-6 of the advertisement prescribes as follows:- “6.Selection Procedure: All Selection of teaching staffs shall be done through written examination (Multiple Choice Question) comprising or 100 marks based on OMR. Eligible candidates who meet all the requisite qualification and W.P.(C) No. 42930 of 2023 Page 2 of 5 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SANGRAM DAS Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Date: 25-Sep-2024 12:55:59 criteria shall be shortlisted for appearing in the written examination. The Selection will be made by the District Selection Committee headed by the District Collector, Sundargarh with Inspector of Schools (SSD), Sundargarh and District Welfare Officer, Sundargarh (Member Convenor) as members of the Committee as per Notification No.S.R.O. No.1169/93/dt.13.12.1993 of ST & SC Development Department. The Selection Committee shall prepare the list of suitable candidates on the basis of the results of written examination. The names of the candidates shall be arranged according to the marks secured in the written examination. Minimum cut-off mark for UR category is 35 and for Reserved Category is 30 out of the total 100 marks. Preference will be given to the candidates belonging to the Sundargarh districts. The scheme & syllabus for the written examination for each category of teaching post is enclosed in Annexure-B. (i) In case of two or more candidates secured the same marks the candidate older in age will be placed above in the rank. (ii) If there is further tie, the higher percentage of marks secured in training qualification will be taken into account. (iii) Higher Education will not be given any weightage during preparation of merit list in all categories.” 7. A bare reading of the aforesaid procedure prescribed in the advertisement reveals that the merit will come first, then the preference for candidates belonging to Sundargarh district and then W.P.(C) No. 42930 of 2023 Page 3 of 5 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SANGRAM DAS Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Date: 25-Sep-2024 12:55:59 the age factor comes. Disputing this, Mr.Swain submits that once the merit is tied between two or more candidates, the age factor should come to play instead of preference because the preference in selection cannot be en-bloc preference. In this regard he cites the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State of U.P. & Ors v. Om.Prakash & Ors., (2006) 6 SCC 474. This cited case is with regard to preference given in respect of additional qualification over and above the requisite qualification. Therefore, in the humble opinion of this Court, the facts in the present case are distinguishable from the facts of said cited case. However, the relevant observations of the Supreme Court, relevant to be reproduced here, are that, “this Court has consistently held that when selection is made on the basis of merit assessed through the competitive examination and interview, preference to additional qualification would mean other things being qualitatively and quantitatively equal, those having additional qualification would be preferred. It does not mean en bloc preference irrespective of inter se merit and suitability.” 8. In the case at hand, as stated at Clause-6 of the advertisement, the conditions of selection first recognizes the merit and then extends preference for candidates belonging to Sundargarh district and thereafter the question of tie at the same mark for two or more candidates would come. The inter se merit between the Petitioner and Opposite Party No.5 being the same, residence of Opposite Party No.5 within the Sundargarh district has rightly being preferred by the authorities in terms of the advertisement which was meant for teachers in Sundargarh district. As such, going through the W.P.(C) No. 42930 of 2023 Page 4 of 5 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SANGRAM DAS Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Date: 25-Sep-2024 12:55:59 conditions of selection procedure prescribed in the advertisement and the preference exercised by the authority, no infirmity is found in the selection procedure to extend any right in favour of the Petitioner. 9.
Decision
In the result, the writ petition is dismissed, accordingly. Judge (B.P. Routray) Sangram Das, Sr.Steno W.P.(C) No. 42930 of 2023 Page 5 of 5