Cuttack: There is no end to the controversies pertaining to 2006 constable recruitment as a contempt of court case has been filed in the Orissa High Court for the third time.
Acting on the petition, a division bench of Justices Sanju Panda and Krushnaram Mohapatra has issued show-cause notices to the Home Department secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP).
Sources said the HC had directed the state government to regularise services of the socially and educationally backward class (SEBC) employees from 2006 who were appointed in excess of quota reserved for them. However, the state government regularised the appointments in 2016 instead of 2006 in violation of the HC order.
Notably, the state government in 2006 had issued a notification for recruitment of 5,200 constables. However, the state government made 773 ad hoc appointments in excess of quota.
The appointment process was entangled in legal controversies over reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates. It was alleged that the SC&ST reservation law was blatantly violated during the appointment process. The case pertaining to the recruitment process also landed in the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) and the Supreme Court.
In June 2017, the HC ruled that the services of those who were earlier appointed as ad hoc and would be reappointed against the existing vacancies would be regularised from 2006. However, the state government had regularised their appointment since 2016.
Some petitioners had filed the contempt of court alleging non-compliance of HC order.
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