STATE OF ODISHA Vs. PATITAPABAN DUTTA DASH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ appeals by the State of Odisha are directed against the impugned judgment dtd. 9/9/2021 of learned Single Judge allowing the writ petitions filed by the Respondents and directing that their services as Data Entry Operators (DEOs) in the Tahasils of Cuttack and other districts should be regularized in terms of a letter dtd. 17/9/2013 issued by the General Administration Department (GA Department), Government of Odisha since they had already completed six years of service and had been appointed against sanctioned posts by following due procedure of selection. It was directed that they should be granted all the consequential and financial benefits in accordance with law within two months from the date of communication of the judgment.

(2.) While a detailed judgment was delivered in the first batch of writ petitions of which the lead petition was W.P.(C) No.19951 of 2020 (Patitapaban Dutta Dash v. State of Odisha) and against which the State of Odisha has filed W.A. No.777 of 2021, in all the connected writ petitions the said judgment was followed to grant identical relief. Those orders have been challenged in the companion appeals by the State of Odisha in this batch.

(3.) This Court has heard the submissions of Mr. Ashok Kumar Parija, learned Advocate General (AG) assisted by Mr. M.K. Khuntia and Mr. R.N. Mishra, learned Additional Government Advocates for the Appellants-State and Mr. B.S. Tripathy1, learned counsel for the Respondents in the appeals. Background facts