Orissa High Court
Smt. Sangita Dash vs State Of Odisha And Others on 18 April, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
WPC(OA) No.1099 of 2015
Smt. Sangita Dash .... Petitioner
Mr. Subash Chandra Dash, Advocate
-versus-
State of Odisha and others .... Opp. Parties
Mr. Saswat Das, A.G.A.
CORAM:
JUSTICE A.K. MOHAPATRA
ORDER
Order No. 18.04.2023
02. 1. This matter is taken up through Hybrid Arrangement
(Virtual /Physical Mode).
2. Heard learned counsel for the Petitioner as well as learned
Additional Government Advocate. Perused the Original
application.
3. Learned Additional Government Advocate at the outset
submitted that the status of Opposite Party no.3 institution has
been changed in the meantime. Earlier the Opposite Party no.3
institution was a constituent college under the Biju Pattnaik
University of Technology, Odisha, however, in the meantime,
the College of Engineering & Technology has been declared as
an autonomous University and the same has been renamed as
Orissa University of Technology & Research.
4. Learned counsel for the Petitioner at this juncture seeks
liberty to add Odisha University of Technology & Research
(OUTR), Bhubaneswar represented through its Registrar as
// 2 //
Opposite Party No.4 to the Writ Petition.
5. Considering the submissions, learned counsel for the
Petitioner is permitted to add the above named OUTR as
Opposite Party No.4. Let correction be carried out in Court.
6. The present Writ Petition has been filed by the Petitioner
with a prayer for regularization of service of the Petitioner as
Lecturer in English in the College of Engineering &
Technology, Bhubaneswar which has been renamed as OUTR
within a stipulated period of time. Although the present
application which was initially filed before the Orissa
Administrative Tribunal in the year 2015 has been transferred to
this Court after abolition of the Tribunal and renumbered as
WPC(OA) No.1099 of 2015. No counter Affidavit has been filed
by the Opposite Parties as of now.
7. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submitted that by virtue
of an interim order passed by the Orissa Administrative Tribunal
at the initial stage of admission of this matter, the Petitioner is
continuing in service on contractual basis. Learned Additional
Government Advocate on the other hand submitted that although
no Counter Affidavit has been filed, however there exist no
sanctioned vacant post Lecturer in English in the College.
8. Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel
for the parties, as well as keeping in view the factual background
of the present case and further taking into consideration of the
fact that the Petitioner has been working on contractual basis
since 2009 i.e. almost 14 years, this Court deems it proper to
// 3 //
dispose of the Writ Petition by directing the Opposite Party no.4
to consider the case of the Petitioner for regularization of her
service keeping in view the long and uninterrupted service
provided by the Petitioner since the year 2009. It is further
directed that the Petitioner shall approach the Opposite Party
No.4 along with a fresh representation taking therein all the
grounds along with supporting materials including the judgment
in support of her contention within a period of two weeks from
today. In the event such a representation is filed, the same shall
be disposed of within a period of eight weeks from the date of
filing such representation. It is needless to mention here that
while considering the case of the Petitioner shall keep in mind
the principle laid down by the judgment of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court in the case of Secretary, State of Karnataka -
v.-Uma Devi : reported in AIR 2006 S.C. 1806, Amarkanti
Rai -v.-State of Bihar and others reported in (2015) 8
Supreme Court Cases 265 and the decision be communicated
to the Petitioner within two weeks from the date of taking such
decision.
9. With the aforesaid observation/direction, the Writ Petition
stands disposed of.
( A.K. Mohapatra)
Judge
RKS
