RAGHUNATH RANSINGH Vs. STATE OF ORISSA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER and opposite parties 3, 4 and 5 are employees in the Directorate of Export Promotion and Marketing of the State Government of Orissa and while Petitioner is working as a Grade II Assistant, the said opposite parties are all Grade I Assistants. Petitioner assails the promotion of opposite parties 3, 4 and 5 relying on the provisions of the Orissa Ministerial Service (Method of Recruitment and Condition and Offices of the Head of Departments) Rules, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as "Rules of 1963").

(2.) WHEN Petitioner's application came up for hearing before a Division Bench, Petitioner's counsel relied upon the Bench decision of this Court in the case of Nityananda Das v. State, 1973 (2) C.W.R. 1485, Learned Government Advocate took the stand that the observation of the Division Bench in paragraph 11 of the judgment that the Director, Bureau of Statistics and Economics was a Head of Department so far as the Rules of 1963 are concerned was erroneous and required re -consideration. This case has, therefore, been referred to a larger Bench for disposal and for consideration of the correctness of the decision reported in Nityananda Das v. State of Orissa.

(3.) RULE 20 of the Orissa Service Code defines "Heads of Departments" to mean "the Government servant mentioned in Appendix 3". In Appendix 3 of the Code, various authorities have been named. Director of Export Promotion and Marketing has, however, not been included. Even if the said Director would have been included in Appendix 3, to employees in that Directorate, the Rules of 1963 would have no application in view of the special definition in Rule 2(b) of the Rules.