Cuttack: Orissa High Court (HC) Tuesday imposed an interim stay on the appointment of Minati Behera as the State Commissioner for Persons with Disability (SCPD) by the state government.
Pronouncing the order, Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi issued notices to the state government and all the other parties to the case asking them to submit their replies to the court.
The order came in response to a writ petition filed in the HC by K Anand that contended that Behera’s appointment to the post was illegal. According to the petition, altogether 21 persons had submitted their applications for the post of State Commissioner for Persons with Disability following a notice published by the state government. But the state government appointed Behera to the post April 6, 2015 by overlooking the claims of other more eligible candidates, alleged the petitioner. He had urged the HC to intervene in the matter.
Pleading for the petitioner, senior advocate Pitambar Acharya claimed that a search committee constituted by the state government had recommended the names of three persons including that of Behera for the post by overlooking other more eligible candidates.
Acharya argued that Behera did not have the mandatory experience to be appointed as the State Commissioner for Persons with Disability. According to him, a person must have worked at least 15 years for the disabled people to be appointed to the post. PNN
