Kataka: Taking a strict stance on non-compliance of its directives, the Orissa High Court has issued a show-cause notice under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act against former Director General of Police (DGP) Y B Khurania for alleged deliberate disobedience and submitting a misleading affidavit regarding the reinstatement of a police sub-inspector (SI).
Khurania, who retired on August 16, has been directed to file his response to the notice within seven days.
The dispute originates from the 2017 recruitment of SI Sagarika Parida, who was subsequently discharged from service in November 2020 under Police Manual Rule-673 for allegedly concealing criminal antecedents in her verification roll. Parida, however, asserted that one of the cases had ended in acquittal prior to her recruitment, while the other two were filed by third parties. She alleged that her clarifications were ignored by the then-DGP, prompting her to approach the High Court for relief.
A single-judge bench of the High Court ruled in Parida’s favour on September 25, 2025, ordering her immediate reinstatement with full service and financial benefits, treating her discharge period as “on duty”. Unwilling to concede, the DGP appealed the decision before a division bench. The division bench subsequently upheld the single judge’s order, yet the department still delayed her reinstatement.
The state’s legal team later sought to pause contempt proceedings by citing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed before the Supreme Court on August 22, 2026. Firmly rejecting this defence, Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra emphasised that merely filing an SLP without securing a formal stay from the apex court does not render High Court orders inoperative. The court also dismissed arguments that proceedings should be dropped due to Khurania’s retirement, observing that he had tactfully misled the bench by previously seeking time under the guise of department processing rather than disclosing plans to appeal.
The High Court directed the current in-charge DGP to complete Parida’s reinstatement within four weeks, warning that both the DGP and the IG (Personnel) will have to appear in court during the next hearing on September 28 if they fail to comply.
