The court established that the Odisha Public Service Commission must restructure its cadre to align terms of service with the Secretariat, ensuring equal treatment under the governing regulations, addressing concerns about contractual appointments.

JUDGMENT :

R.K. PATTANAIK, J.

1. Instant writ petition is filed by the petitioners assailing the impugned orders as at Annexure-5, 9 & 11 for the State Govt. having rejected the proposal for introduction of a cadre of Assistant Section Officer in the establishment of the of the Odisha Public Service Commission (shortly called as ‘the Commission’), namely, opposite party No.1with grant of consequential pay and other service conditions at par with the employees serving in the corresponding grade in the Odisha Secretariat with the merger of the cadres of Junior Assistant and Senior Assistant complying Regulation 5 of the Odisha Public Service Commission (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Staff) Regulations, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Regulations’) with issuance of such other directions as deemed just and proper in the interest of justice.

2. Pursuant to an advertisement published in 2014 as per Annexure-1, the petitioners offered their candidature for appointment to the posts of Junior Assistant in the office of opposite party No.1 and after being duly selected, as according to them, in a regular selection process conducted according to the Regulations, appointed as such on contractual basis vide Annexure-2 series. The pleading is that opposite party No.1 is a statutory body created under Article 315 of the Constitution of India and with a view to uphold its independence, the salaries, allowances and pensions payable to its employees are directly charged on the Consolidated Fund of the Government of India or the State Government as the case may be and in exercise of power under Article 318, a set of regulations has been framed to govern them and such are still in force so far as the recruitment and their service conditions are concerned. The further pleading is that Regulation 9 of the Regulations provides procedure for recruitment and appointment to the post of Junior Assistant and there is no provision for appointment on contractual basis and therefore, the advertisement as per Annexure-1 is directly in contravention of the Regulations. Further, by referring to Regulation 5 of the Regulations, it is pleaded on record that the petitioners as the employees of opposite party No.1 are eligible and entitled to similar pay and other service conditions like their counterparts in the Secretariat.

2.1. According to the petitioners, as per the resolution published in the Odisha Gazette dated 15^th October, 2008 at Annexure-3, the entry level in the ministerial service in the Secretariat has been redesignated as Assistant Section Officer (ASO) in the scale of pay of Rs.5,000/- to Rs. 8,000/- (pre- revised), hence, the existing cadre of Junior Assistant and Senior Assistant were merged and in view of Regulation 5(3) of the Regulations, the ministerial cadre of opposite party No.1 would have to be integrated into a single cadre of ASO and in view of such resolution, creation of a cadre by opposite party No.1 is automatic and as such, no sanction is necessary. With the above pleading, it is claimed by the petitioners that opposite party No.1 was not required to seek approval of the Government, nevertheless, it was proposed for creation of the cadre on similar terms by a letter dated 28^th November, 2008 at Annexure-4 but it was regretted vide Annexure-5 and once again, by letter dated 10^th May, 2010 (Annexure-6), such request was renewed and though, opposite party No.2 responded by demanding status report vide Annexure-7, opposite party No.2 rejected the proposal vide Annexure-9