Prepare ASOs' gradation list on the basis of seniority: Orissa HC asks government

Cuttack, June 9: The Orissa High Court directed the Odisha government to revise the gradation list of Assistant Section Officers (ASOs) in the Odisha Secretariat Service on the basis of their seniority i.e accounting the date of appointment.

Drawing out a long line of settlement on a long-running dispute over the gradation and seniority of the ASOs across inter-seniority, different recruitment drives and between promotees and direct recruits, a bench of the Orissa High Court on Monday ruled that the date of appointment will be the only yardstick for ones place in the gradation list, nothing else either the date of recruitment drive or the dateline of the employment notifications.

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The case involving ASOs rooted through as many as ten writ petitions grouped into two categories. The first group concerned two sets of direct recruits: 140 candidates from OPSC Advertisement No. 06 dated May 14, 2015 (ST category), and 811 candidates from Advertisement No. 08 issued on October 6, 2012. 

The second group addressed the seniority conflict between promoted officers and direct recruits.

Despite Advertisement No. 08 being older, its appointments were delayed until October 2016 due to legal and administrative hurdles.

Meanwhile, candidates under the 2015 advertisement were appointed earlier, on January 27 and May 18, 2016.

On June 3, the High Court, hearing the matter through its vacation bench, ruled that seniority should be determined by the actual date of appointment, not the date of advertisement or selection, unless specific rules suggest otherwise.

The court ordered that ASOs appointed earlier under Advertisement No. 06 must be ranked above those appointed later under Advertisement No. 08.

The High Court bench also directed that promotees should be considered en bloc senior to direct recruits of the same calendar year.

Meanwhile, the court also instructed the Odisha Home Department to bringing relief to affected ASOs setting a legal precedent that in government service, date of appointment should be the only parameter and prime criteria to determine the seniority of the staff.