HC asks govt to accept med prof’s voluntary retirement plea | Bhubaneswar News
Cuttack: A govt medical college professor with 27 years of service, whose application for voluntary retirement was declined by the state on ground of faculty crunch, got relief from Orissa high court, which ruled that the rejection is not legally tenable.
Rabi Narayan Dhar, a professor of orthopaedics at PIGMER and Capital Hospital, had applied for voluntary retirement citing health ailments and personal issues on Dec 27, 2023. But the application was rejected by the govt on Feb 8, 2024 under Rule-42 of Odisha Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 1992, citing dearth of faculty in medical colleges.
While directing the govt to accept Dhar’s voluntary retirement from the date of expiry of three months’ notice period, calculated from Dec 27, 2023, Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra observed that Rule-42 of the OCS (Pension) Rules, 1992, does not specify the grounds on which an application can or cannot be made by a govt servant to the appointing authority for voluntary retirement.
Therefore, the provision contained in Rule-42 (1) is an open provision, subject to the condition that the govt servant seeking voluntary retirement must have completed 20 years of service and must have given a notice of not less than three months, the court observed.
“In view of the aforesaid analysis of law as well as keeping in view the factual matrix involved in the present petition, this court has no hesitation in coming to a conclusion that the state authorities committed an illegality by rejecting the application of the petitioner (Rabi Narayan Dhar) seeking voluntary retirement from service,” Justice Mohapatra ruled on Wednesday.
Quashing the govt’s Feb 8, 2024 directive, Justice Mohapatra clarified that since the petitioner has been discharging his duties, “he shall be paid his salary and other emoluments for the period for which he rendered his services”.
The judge also directed the state authorities to process Dhar’s pension and retirement within three months from the date of receiving a certified copy of the judgment.
Rabi Narayan Dhar, a professor of orthopaedics at PIGMER and Capital Hospital, had applied for voluntary retirement citing health ailments and personal issues on Dec 27, 2023. But the application was rejected by the govt on Feb 8, 2024 under Rule-42 of Odisha Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 1992, citing dearth of faculty in medical colleges.
While directing the govt to accept Dhar’s voluntary retirement from the date of expiry of three months’ notice period, calculated from Dec 27, 2023, Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra observed that Rule-42 of the OCS (Pension) Rules, 1992, does not specify the grounds on which an application can or cannot be made by a govt servant to the appointing authority for voluntary retirement.
Therefore, the provision contained in Rule-42 (1) is an open provision, subject to the condition that the govt servant seeking voluntary retirement must have completed 20 years of service and must have given a notice of not less than three months, the court observed.
“In view of the aforesaid analysis of law as well as keeping in view the factual matrix involved in the present petition, this court has no hesitation in coming to a conclusion that the state authorities committed an illegality by rejecting the application of the petitioner (Rabi Narayan Dhar) seeking voluntary retirement from service,” Justice Mohapatra ruled on Wednesday.
Quashing the govt’s Feb 8, 2024 directive, Justice Mohapatra clarified that since the petitioner has been discharging his duties, “he shall be paid his salary and other emoluments for the period for which he rendered his services”.
The judge also directed the state authorities to process Dhar’s pension and retirement within three months from the date of receiving a certified copy of the judgment.
