Sanjay Kumar Perei vs State of Odisha

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2025 Supreme(Ori) 768

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
SASHIKANTA MISHRA
Sanjay Kumar Perei – Appellant
Versus
State of Odisha – Respondent

Advocates Appeared:
For the Petitioners:Mr. Rajib Rath, Advocate.
For the Respondents: Mr. S.N. Pattnaik, Addl. Government Adv., M/s. P.C. Acharya & S.K. Parida, Adv.

Table of Content
1. senior reserved category employees denied promotions. (Para 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6)
2. arguments on merit and seniority versus reserved status. (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 13)
3. analysis of statutory provisions and merit criteria. (Para 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 24)
4. implications of reservation laws and principles. (Para 20 , 21 , 22)
5. writ application allowed; review dpc required. (Para 25 , 26)

JUDGMENT :

SASHIKANTA MISHRA, J.

1. The issue that arises for consideration in this writ application is, whether senior reserved category employees can be denied promotion to the higher post under unreserved category ignoring their seniority.

FACTS

2. Petitioner Nos.1, 2 and 3, at the time of filing of the writ application were serving as Asst. Revenue Inspectors (ARI) while petitioner Nos.4 and 5 were serving as Amins. All of them were posted in different Tahasils of Keonjhar District. Petitioner No.1 and 3 belong to the SC category, while petitioner Nos. 2, 4 & 5 belong to the ST category. Petitioner Nos. 1, 2 and 3 entered into Government service as ARI on 09.11.2009, 13.11.2009 and 05.11.2009 respectively. Petitioner Nos.4 & 5 entered into Government service as Amins on 13.11.20