Odish HC quashes OAT ruling; upholds appointment of 38 assistant Professors

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Apr 25:

The High Court on Friday quashed the order of the Odisha Administrative Tribunal (OAT) in connection with the filling up of vacancies of assistant professors in the three government-run medical colleges of the state.

The court has restored two notifications issued by the OPSC in this connection. The court has held the appointment of 38 assistant professors made in two phases as valid.

On the other hand, a division bench consisting of Justice Indrajit Mohanty and Biswanath Rath ordered selection of others working on ad hoc basis through a specially held interview.

In 2010-11 and 2011-12, Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) had issued two separate notifications for filling up of 355 posts of assistant professors. Apart from mentioning requisite qualifications for the posts, the notification had mentioned three years of experience as a senior resident or as a tutor for the posts as its eligibility criteria.

Citing that since senior resident or tutor arrangement was started in the state in 2010 for the first time, candidates from inside the state were not eligible for the posts. Candidates had petitioned the OAT for ordering OPSC to relax the criteria and publish a fresh notification.

Apart from quashing the notifications issued by OPSC, OAT had held the appointments of the assistant professors made through these notifications as invalid.

“The High Court held that those who had applied for these posts only are eligible. The court quashed the entire judgement and held the appointment of 38 candidates recommended by the OPSC as valid,” said Pradipta Kumar Mohanty, counsel for OPSC.