ARCHANA KANUNGO Vs. STATE OF ODISHA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has put to challenge a judgment dtd. 24/11/2023 rendered by a learned Single Judge of this Court in W.P.(C) No.36916 of 2022 filed by the appellant under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, whereby the said writ petition has been dismissed.

(2.) The short facts, which are not in dispute, are that the Odisha Public Service Commission (in short 'OPSC') had come out with an advertisement on 8/10/2021 inviting applications from eligible candidates for recruitment to 606 posts of Assistant Professors (Stage-I) in different disciplines in Group-A of Odisha Education Service (College Branch) of Government Degree Colleges in the State. 1% of the total posts were reserved for the sportspersons. 3/12/2021 was the last date for submission of online applications. The appellant is said to have submitted her application online, but was not called for interview. The appellant approached this Court by filing a writ petition giving rise to W.P.(C) No.21038 of 2022 raising grievance against non-inclusion of her PPSAN number in the list of candidates called for verification of documents for selection to the post of Assistant Professors (Stage-I) Sociology. The appellant is a National Level Taekwondo player recognized by the Directorate of Sports, Government of Odisha. She claimed that she had a brilliant academic credentials with Master Degree in Sociology from Utkal University, M.phil Degree from Delhi University and Ph.D Degree with Institutional Research Fellowships of ICSSR in 2012 and 2014. In the said writ proceeding, the OPSC took a stand that the appellant had failed to make necessary entries in her online application. The learned Single Judge of this Court, by an order dtd. 20/10/2022, disposed of the said writ petition i.e. W.P.(C) No.21038 of 2022 with an observation for considering the appellant's application sympathetically and allowing her for the verification of the documents. The OPSC was directed to fix a date for document verification. While passing the said order, learned Single Judge noted that the petitioner had represented in sports at the National Level and that the Government of Odisha was promoting sportspersons of different sports categories and promoting sustainable employment opportunities also to them.

(3.) The appellant's documents were verified and she was allowed to participate in the interview held on 12/12/2022.