Odisha Civil Services Row: HC Declares Appointment Of 378 Officers Valid

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday declared the appointment of 378 Odisha Civil Service (OCS) officers as ‘valid’.

In May 2014, The Cuttack bench of the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) had earlier nullified the appointment made in 2010 on the grounds that the officers, recruited in Class II posts with basic pay of Rs 6, 500, were promoted to Class I rank with basic pay of Rs 15, 000 in 2010 in contravention of rules.

On the basis of an Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) advertisement of 2006, 73 OAS (class-I), 207 OFS (class-I) and 98 officers in other allied cadres as class-II officers were given appointment by the state government in June 2010.

“The court stated that there was no violation of Article 14 and 16 as was mentioned in the petition challenging the government’s earlier decision to promote these officers to Class I,” OPSC advocate Pradipta Kumar Mohanty told the media.

In June 2014, the HC had, however, stayed the tribunal’s decision.