HC Junks Plea On 1% Sports Quota In Recruitment Of Asst Professor In Odisha

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has dismissed a writ petition with regard to 1% reservation for sportspersons in the appointment of 606 assistant professors in different disciplines in Group A of Odisha Education Service (college branch) of government degree colleges in the state.

A national-level taekwondo player recognised by the Directorate of Sports, Dr Archana Kanungo had moved the court when she did not find her name in the list of successful candidates the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) published after she appeared for the interview on December 12, 2022.

She is an aspirant for the post of assistant professor in sociology in the unreserved category (UR).

She filed a fresh petition by way of a writ appeal, alleging that the principles of horizontal reservation for sportsperson was not followed by the recruiting body, after a single judge bench refused to entertain her plea on November 24, 2023.

She contended that one post – 1% of the 12 vacancies in sociology — should have been earmarked for sportspersons as per the advertisement, which the OPSC had not done.

Expressing concurrence with the Single Judge’s order, the division bench of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice S K Sahoo endorsed OPSC’s stand that Kanungo could have been considered under the sportspersons category only if she had qualified in the original merit list prepared for unreserved candidates in sociology.

The marks that she had secured were less than the marks secured by the last person among the 12 on the list.