Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has dismissed petition of a medical college professor against her transfer on the ground of health condition of her and her family but said the state government’s action fell short of a model employer and hoped for remedial measures.
The high court made the observation while hearing the petition of an associate professor of the Physiology department at SCB Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack. The associate professor had challenged her posting to Government Medical College and Hospital, Keonjhar, following promotion to the post of professor.
She had submitted a representation to the government requesting to be allowed to continue in SCB Hospital on the ground of her illness as well as the medical condition of her husband and her elderly mother who is suffering from chronic breast cancer. But her plea was not considered.
After hearing the petition, single-judge bench of Justice S K Panigrahi of the high court came to the conclusion that the petitioner cannot be granted any relief by way of law and dismissed the petition. But the bench observed that the key to good governance by the state government is to ensure that legitimate aspirations of the employees are not curtailed and a situation not created where hopes end in despair.
“A sense of calm sensibility and concerned sincerity should be reflected in every step. An atmosphere of trust has to prevail and when the employees are absolutely sure that their trust shall not be betrayed and they shall be treated with dignified fairness then only the concept of good governance can be concretized,” TOI quoted Justice Panigrahi as saying.
“It is not the case of the state government that the petitioner has not been discharging her duties diligently, honestly and faithfully. Therefore, while she feels helpless in such circumstances, the authorities should not be the unbecoming of her hopes. While the laws could not be her saviour today, this court surely hopes the administration, which she has come to serve and toil for the institutions for many decades, would most certainly be her guardian angel. This court is quite hopeful that the authority shall be sensible in accommodating her to a medical college, considering the health condition of her family,” Justice Panigrahi noted in the order issued on September 30.
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