Orissa High Court
Nirupama Mohapatra vs State Of Orissa & Others .... Opposite ... on 10 September, 2025
Author: Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo
Bench: Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
W.P. (C) No. 20320 of 2025
[An application challenging the action/inaction of the Opp.Parties in
not granting benefits provided under Green Card Scheme for admission
into B.Sc. Nursing Course under the Odisha Joint Entrance
Examination (OJEE) 2025].
Nirupama Mohapatra .... Petitioner
-Versus-
State of Orissa & Others .... Opposite Parties
For Petitioner : M/s. Karunakar Rath, D.B. Rath,
Smt. M. Sahoo, D.U. Rath and
M. Mohapatra, Advocates.
For Opp.Parties : Mr. Debaraj Mohanty along with
Mr. S.B. Panda, Addl. Govt. Advocates
(for Opp. Party No.1).
M/s. Rajani Chandra Mohanty, K.C. Swain,
S. Pattanaik and S.S. Sahoo, Advocates
(for Opp. Party No.2).
Mr. Subir Palit, Sr. Advocate along with
Mr. Amitabh Mishra, Advocate
(for Opp. Party No.3).
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CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANASH RANJAN PATHAK
AND
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MRUGANKA SEKHAR SAHOO
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Page 1 of 7
JUDGMENT
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Decided on : 10.09.2025
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PER MRUGANKA SEKHAR SAHOO, J.
1. This matter was earlier listed for admission. Upon being mentioned
by the learned counsel for the Petitioner that it involves admission to the
course in Allied Medical Science, the Petitioner has qualified in OJEE
and there is urgency, the matter was listed today for orders. Today the
matter is finally heard on consent of the parties and is disposed of.
2. Mr. Amitabh Mishra, learned counsel submits that he has
instruction to appear along with Mr. Subir Palit, Sr. Advocate, for the
Opposite Party No.3 (Chairman, OJEE). He files the Vakalatnama
executed by Opp. Party No.3 and Memo of Appearance of Mr. Subir
Palit, Sr. Advocate, which are taken on record. The scanned copy be
updated accordingly.
3. The Petitioner, a girl student, had applied and appeared in Odisha
Joint Entrance Examination 2025 (hereinafter „OJEE‟) for admission in
the Basic B.Sc. Nursing Course, vide Notification No. OJEE/029 dated
29.01.2025. For such admission, she had appeared in the OJEE and
secured a rank. Her application was successful, as indicated from the
message annexed to the writ petition at page 20, i.e. obtained from the
https://dohodisha.nic.in/: DMET Odisha.
The petitioner student had mentioned in the relevant column of the
Application Form that she has Green-Card, as would be evident from
Annexure-4, i.e. copy of the Application No. 20250303701. In the
relevant column, she has marked „YES‟. Payment of fees of Rs.500/- has
been acknowledged by the DMET on 26.06.2025.
4. From our interaction with the learned counsels, it is not very clear
how Annexure-5, i.e. in the copy of the Application of the Petitioner after
verification, entry indicating "Have Green Card ? NO" was generated, i.e.
whether at the end of the OJEE, Odisha, Opp.Party No.3 or the
Counseling Authority, i.e. DMET, Govt. of Odisha (O.P.-2) being the
authority for Nursing Counseling and Admission. We do not further
examine the said aspect, as it does not have much bearing on the issues
involved in the writ petition.
5. We have gone through the counter affidavit filed on behalf of
Opposite Party No.2 - DMET, Odisha and also heard at length the
learned counsel Mr. Amitabh Mishra for the Opposite Party No.3 -
Chairman, OJEE.
It is conceded and agreed by all the Opp. Parties that the applicant is
a child born to her father Shri Dillip Kumar Mohapatra and her mother
Smt. Gouri Rani Mohapatra, w/o. Dillip Kumar Mohapatra. The
authenticity of the Green-Card Certificate has not been questioned in any
manner whatsoever.
6. We have referred to the Green-Card, copy of which is available on
record. The Green-Card at its 1st page mentions the identification number
given by the issuing authority : OR-GC No.90666, in the space indicating
the name of the holder - Gouri Rani Mohapatra, village - Putina, P.O. -
Putina, Dist. -Balasore, issued by the Govt. of Odisha, Health & Family
Welfare Department. The 2nd page gives the details, i.e. Name - Gouri
Rani Mohapatra, Husband‟s name - Dilip Ku. Mohapatra, and Address,
physical mark of identification of the card holder, date of sterilization
operation of card holder.
In the next table of the Green-Card, which is provided in a space of
only few centimeters, three vertical columns have been adjusted, the first
being : Name, second vertical column - Date of Birth, and the third
vertical column - Relationship. In the said table/column, the relationship
with the persons whose name has been indicated in the table as related to
the person holding Green-Card, i.e. Smt. Gouri Rani Mohapatra, is given.
Apparently, the table does not have enough space to indicate/write with
pen in handwriting of the issuing authority to accommodate in 17
(seventeen) alphabets, those would be required to be mentioned if
„Nirupama Mohapatra‟ will be written. In fact, all the three names in the
table have been mentioned thus - (1) „Dilip Ku.‟, (2) „Nirupama‟, (3)
„Anupama‟.
It is apparent from the said table that, after writing the letters as
would fill up the table, no further space is left to write anything more. We
further notice that the 4th and 5th pages of the Green-Card bear the seals
and signatures of the authorities, like Chief District Medical Officer,
Assistant District Medical Officer and the details of the lady (mother of
the petitioner) holding the Green Card and name of her husband. Again,
in page-5, name of the lady Smt. Gouri Rani Mohapatra is indicated. At
page 12 of the Green Card, the sanction of increment in salary of the
husband of the card holder, i.e. father of the petitioner, certified by the
authority with seal and signature dated 19.09.2014 is also mentioned.
7. It is fairly conceded by the learned counsel appearing for the OJEE
as well as the learned counsel appearing for the Counseling Authority :
DMET, Odisha, that the authenticity of the Green Card and name of the
parents are nowhere doubted, which are also reflected in the other
testimonials and certificates, such as the Educational Certificate issued by
the Council For The Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi
bearing No. TF 90053129 and the Indian Certificate of Secondary
Education (Class-X).
8. The apparent reasons, those have been suggested by the Counseling
Authority in their counter affidavit, for not entertaining the Green Card,
could be found at paragraphs 8 and 9, which are reproduced hereunder -
"8. That, furthermore, as per the prospectus (Annexure-A/2),
under the heading "documents to be uploaded by the
applicant" (Clause No.15), the following guideline is clearly
reflected as under :-
"Green Card (with all pages) issued by the CDM
& PHO of the concerned district in case of
candidate claiming the seat reserved for children
of „Green Card Holders‟."
The name, fathers name, mothers name & date of birth
of the candidate must have been mentioned clearly on this
certificate and should tally with the data mentioned in the High
School Certificate (If any discrepancy found, then the GC
facility will not be applicable and the candidate will be
considered in unreserved category). This facility of the Green
Card must not have been used before by the same candidate.
No affidavit or undertaking shall be accepted for consideration
for the mismatch.
9. That, during scrutinisation of the documents submitted by
the Petitioner as well as in her online application, the
discrepancy was found so far as Green Card is concerned. As
per the 10th Certificate, the name of the candidate is Nirupama
Mohapatra, and her Father‟s name is Dillip Kumar
Mohapatra. But in the Green Card submitted by her, it was
mentioned only Nirupama as the candidate‟s name and Dillip
Ku. As her father‟s name and both the certificates have
mismatched."
On perusal of the copy of the Green Card and other documents, it
has to be inferred that the petitioner-student has uploaded all the pages of
Green Card. Name, father‟s name, mother‟s name and date of birth of the
candidate has been clearly mentioned on the Green Card and the data
tallies with the data mentioned in the High School Certificate, i.e. in the
present case the ICSE (Class-X) certificate. Therefore, it has to be and is
held that the Petitioner/student has complied with the guidelines, as
specified in the prospectus for Counseling and Admission issued by the
authority, as extracted above.
9. Having gone through the said paragraphs from the counter filed by
Opp. Party No.3, as extracted and quoted above, we find that the only
reason that has weighed in the mind of the authorities is not that the
parenthood of the candidate is not established, she being the daughter of
the Green-Card holder, but since in the table at page-3 of the Green Card
at Serial No.2, part of her full name „Nirupama‟ is mentioned without the
surname „Mohapatra‟ being mentioned.
In our view, such reasoning would not withstand judicial scrutiny,
as the Green-Card holder is Smt. Gouri Rani Mohapatra, Nirupama
Mohapatra being her daughter has applied referring to that Green Card in
the OJEE and has secured a rank. However, the rank obtained by the
Petitioner in the OJEE has been considered in the General Category.
10. In view of the above discussions, we direct that the candidature of
the Petitioner shall be considered in the Green-Card category and she
shall be accordingly given the opportunity of taking admission in any
college in accordance with her rank/position and merit.
We have also noticed that, in paragraph 12 of the counter affidavit
filed by Opposite Party No.2, it is stated that the petitioner‟s rank in the
Green-Card category for taking admission to B.Sc. Nursing would be
213. However we are not emphasizing on the said rank, in as much as,
we are giving liberty to the Opposite Parties to consider the candidature
of the Petitioner in accordance with the rules/law, she being in the
category of child of a "Green Card Holder".
11. We appreciate the contributions of the learned counsel appearing for
the Petitioner, the learned Addl. Govt. Advocates as well as the learned
counsels appearing for Opp. Party Nos.2 and 3 in assisting the Court for
early disposal of the writ petition, when the matter involves the future of
a young student seeking admission in Allied Medical Course. It is further
expected that the authorities concerned shall take expeditious steps in the
matter as per this order, as it is reported to us that the counseling and
admission procedure is still continuing, which shall continue up to 30 th
September, 2025.
The writ petition is disposed of accordingly.
Urgent certified copy be granted as per rules. Parties shall act upon
the copy obtained from the official Website of the High Court of Orissa.
(Manash Ranjan Pathak)
Judge
(Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo)
Designation: ADR-cum-Addl. Principal Secretary
Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK
High11:02:59
Date: 15-Sep-2025 Court of Orissa, Cuttack.
The 10th Day of September, 2025.
S.K. Parida, ADR-cum-APS.
