Cuttack: Orissa high court upheld the state govt’s decision to revise inter se seniority between direct recruits and promoted officers in the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) Group-A (junior branch), ruling in favor of promotees on Tuesday.Dismissing a batch of petitions, Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy refused to interfere with the state’s Nov 15, 2021 order, which had placed promoted officers above direct recruits based on their earlier date of joining.The petitioners, appointed as direct recruits in March 2016 against the 2011 recruitment year, had challenged the revised gradation list. They contended that seniority should be determined by recruitment year and pointed out that they were ranked higher in the final gradation-list published on March 8, 2019.However, Justice Satapathy noted that the promotee officers had been promoted earlier, on Oct 17, 2015, and had joined service ahead of the direct recruits, though their promotions were regularised later in April 2017.Examining the statutory framework, the court observed: “It is not disputed that inter se seniority of the direct recruits and promotes in the rank of OAS Group-A(JB) is governed under Rule 11 of the Odisha Administrative Service (Method of Recruitment & Conditions of Service) Rules, 2011.”At the same time, it pointed out a key gap in the rules, stating that the term ‘recruitment year’ is not defined and that Rule 11 does not address situations where appointments and promotions occur across different recruitment years. “Rule 11 cannot be relied upon, so far as the present dispute is concerned,” Justice Satapathy ruled.On facts, the judge emphasized the chronology of entry into service. “Since the promotees have admittedly joined in the cadre of OAS Group-A (JB) ahead of the petitioners… it is the view of this court that they are required to be placed above the direct recruits,” the judgment stated.Backing the government’s stand, the court concluded: “the impugned order has been rightly passed and it requires no interference.”The ruling effectively settles the dispute in favor of promotee OAS officers, affirming that, in the absence of clear statutory guidance for differing recruitment years, seniority can be determined based on date of joining.
