Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has fixed January 27, 2026, for hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging government inaction against members of the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) Association and the Orissa Revenue Employees Sangha (ORES) who had gone on strike in violation of service conduct rules.
The PIL seeks strict enforcement of the Orissa Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 1959, which explicitly prohibit government employees from participating in strikes or mass abstention from duty. The petitioner has urged the court to direct the state government to initiate disciplinary action—including salary deduction, suspension, or dismissal—against officials who abstained from work.
The petition was filed by Pratap Chandra Sahoo, a resident of Cuttack, and is being represented by Advocate Anup Kumar Mohapatra.
Court Proceedings
Acting on the petition, the High Court had earlier issued notice to the state government on December 9, seeking its response and listing the matter for hearing on December 23. However, when the case was taken up on the scheduled date, Additional Government Advocate Debashis Tripathy sought additional time to file a counter affidavit.
Granting the request, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman passed an order allowing the state two weeks’ time to file its counter affidavit. The court further directed that any rejoinder be filed within one week thereafter and posted the matter for hearing on January 27, 2026.
Background of the Dispute
According to the PIL, the controversy arose following the alleged assault on OAS officer Ratnakar Sahoo inside the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) office on June 30 last year. In connection with the incident, the police arrested corporator Jeevan Rout and two of his associates shortly thereafter.
The OAS Association, however, alleged that another corporator, Jagannath Pradhan, was the mastermind behind the attack and demanded his arrest. When the demand was not immediately met, OAS officers across more than 20 districts proceeded on mass leave, effectively paralysing administrative work for nearly two days.
The petition contends that such collective action by government servants amounted to a clear violation of conduct rules and that the absence of disciplinary action by the state government undermines the rule of law and administrative discipline.
The High Court’s forthcoming hearing is expected to examine both the legality of the strike and the extent of the state government’s obligation to act against erring officials under existing service rules.
-OdishaAge
