Cuttack: Orissa high court came down on the state govt for keeping a contractual employee in prolonged service without resolving her claim for regularisation, observing that the state cannot continue to take work of a permanent nature through temporary arrangements and later deny employment security.The observation came when a division bench of Justices Krishna S Dixit and Chittaranjan Dash was considering an appeal filed by the state govt against a single judge’s July 16, 2024 order that directed authorities to revoke the termination of pharmacist Amita Mohapatra and reconsider her regularisation claim.Finding no illegality or jurisdictional error in the 2024 decision, the two-judge bench dismissed the appeal and granted the state three months to implement the directions restoring Mohapatra’s position and reconsidering her regularisation claim.Mohapatra was engaged as a pharmacist fellow at Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre Hospital, Cuttack, on Feb 7, 2006. She continued in service for over 14 years before her engagement was terminated on Nov 23, 2020. Court records showed that her case for regularisation was recommended several times by competent authorities, but remained pending.The govt argued that Mohapatra was appointed on a contractual basis against a non-sanctioned post and, therefore, had no enforceable right either to continue in service or seek regularisation. It also contended that the single judge erred in interfering with the termination order.The bench, however, found little merit in the govt’s stand. Referring to the General Administration Department Resolution dated Sept 17, 2013, the judges noted that employees completing six years of satisfactory contractual service were to be deemed regularly appointed, subject to issuance of a formal order.The judges said Mohapatra’s claim for regularisation was neither speculative nor illusory, as it was recognised under the govt’s own policy framework and had remained under active consideration. The judges also held that the govt could not use the absence of a sanctioned post as a defence after knowingly retaining her services for more than a decade.
