The Odisha High Court on Thursday directed State Home Secretary UN Behera to appear before it on July 4 and explain as to why contempt proceedings shall not be initiated against him for noncompliance of an earlier order of the High Court pertaining to the 2006 Constable recruitment.
The High Court in December 2012, after quashing a State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) order, had asked the Government to redraw a fresh merit list of selected candidates to fill up the ‘unreserved’ posts which were diverted to ‘reserved’ category candidates. However, when the Government did not act upon it, a contempt petition was filed against the Home Secretary in the court.
It may be mentioned that on the basis of an advertisement issued in December 2006, the Government filled up as many as 2,605 posts of Constables in which the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) candidates cornered 27 per cent of the posts instead of 11.25 per cent posts actually reserved for them.
Disturbed over such a glaring mistake, more than a hundred general candidates approached the SAT challenging the recruitment process. They also alleged that the general candidates are deprived of some 16 per cent of unreserved posts for a faulty decision of the Government.
In September 2007, the SAT invalidated the recruitment process but allowed those recruited in excess of quota to continue in posts as ad hoc appointees until their regularisation is made against the future ‘reserved’ vacancies.
This decision of the SAT had again been challenged in the High Court by the general students and the High Court summarily quashed it asking the Government to stick to the exact percentage of quota and redraw a fresh merit list.