Cuttack: Odisha high court has upheld the Odisha govt’s decision to terminate 50 district law officers before completion of their three-year tenure, ruling that their appointments carried no guarantee of continuation for the full term and could be ended by the state in accordance with the governing rules.Dismissing a batch of 11 writ petitions filed by the law officers from six districts, Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy on Wednesday held the state had acted within its authority in issuing the Dec 24, 2025, notification terminating their services and appointing a fresh set of law officers on the same day.The petitioners included 23 law officers from Ganjam, 16 from Balasore, seven from Mayurbhanj, six from Kendrapada, three from Sundargarh and one from Dhenkanal. They had challenged their removal, arguing that they were entitled to continue for the normal three-year term after being appointed under the Odisha Law Officers Rules, 1971, through a notification issued on Jan 8, 2024.However, the court noted that the appointment orders specifically stated that the appointments were made “until further orders” and not for a fixed tenure. “The petitioners have got no vested right of continuance for a period of three years,” Justice Satapathy observed while examining both the pre-amended and amended provisions of Rule 6 of the 1971 Rules.The court clarified that although the rules provide that appointments are ordinarily made for three years, the govt retains the power to discontinue a law officer before expiry of that period. “The petitioners were never appointed with the condition that they will continue for a term of three years,” the judge said, adding that the amended rules expressly authorise the state to terminate a law officer before completion of the normal tenure.Rejecting allegations of arbitrariness, the court held that “no illegality or irregularity has been committed by the state govt in terminating the petitioners” through the impugned notification.Holding that law officers neither occupy a statutory public office nor hold a civil post under the govt, the court found no legal flaw in either the termination of the petitioners or the appointment of their replacements. The petitions were consequently dismissed at the admission stage itself.The high court also brushed aside the contention that the law officers should have been given prior notice before their removal. It observed that the Odisha Law Officers Rules, 1971, are not statutory rules but only guidelines governing appointments. “No such formal notice was required to be issued to the petitioners, prior to their termination,” the court said.
