SUJATA SENAPATI Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the present Writ Petition, the Petitioner seeks to challenge the Notification dtd. 20/3/2016 issued by the Government in School and Mass Education Department notifying therein the reject list of candidates for the post of Contract Teacher in Government High Schools for 2014-2015 (Classical Teacher) for such candidates, who had applied pursuant to Notification dtd. 7/1/2016. The Petitioner's name finds place in the said reject list.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that a selection notification was issued by the Government of Orissa in School and Mass Education Department inviting applications from eligible candidates for the post of Contractual Teacher in various disciplines in Government Secondary Schools of the State. The said notification was issued on 27/10/2014 and it was provided therein that the candidates shall be under the age of 32 years and above 21 years as on 30/9/2014 apart from other criteria laid down relating to qualification etc. The said resolution is enclosed as Annexure-1 to the Writ Petition. Subsequently, a corrigendum was issued modifying certain conditions of service of the Contractual Teachers on 6/1/2015 (Annexure-2). Some intending candidates approached the erstwhile Odisha Administrative Tribunal in O.A. No. 3589(C)/2014 and batch. Learned Tribunal, vide order dtd. 17/12/2015 directed the Department to revise the upper age limit from 32 to 42 years. Though the said order of the Tribunal was challenged by the State before this Court, but the same was dismissed. Accordingly, a further corrigendum was issued on 7/1/2016 revising the upper age limit for the posts from 32 to 42 years and, accordingly, applications were invited specifically from those candidates who became eligible basing on the said corrigendum. It was specifically mentioned that candidates who had applied earlier pursuant to the original notification need not apply. The Petitioner claims to have become eligible in view of the modified eligibility criteria relating to her age and, accordingly, she submitted online application for the post of Classical Teacher (Sanskrit) for Jajpur District. A copy of her application has been enclosed as Annexure-4. After scrutiny of applications, another Notification was issued by the Department on 4/2/2015 fixing the date and place for verification of documents as enclosed to the application and, accordingly the Petitioner was called upon to attend verification of documents on 8/2/2016, which she complied. The documents, so supplied by the Petitioner along with her application were verified and accepted. But surprisingly, a draft reject list was circulated through Web Portal of the Department, enclosed as Annexure-7 whereby, the Petitioner's name found place at Sl. No. 17 with the remark "Due to invalid registration card, i.e. issued after 6/4/2015". Since the Petitioner had submitted a valid Registration Card which she had obtained prior to making the application she submitted an application objecting to cancellation of her candidature. However, just after publication of the final merit list, another reject list was published in the Web Portal rejecting the candidature of the Petitioner on the ground that her objection has no merit as her employment registration was not valid as on 6/4/2015. According to the Petitioner the above action of authorities in rejecting her candidature on the ground of absence of valid registration certificate is entirely contrary to the principles enshrined under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. The Petitioner, therefore, approached the erstwhile Odisha Administration Tribunal in OA No. 1808(C) of 2016 with the following prayer:-

(3.) The said O.A. has since been transferred to this Court and registered as the present Writ Petition.