Cuttack: Orissa high court on Thursday issued notices to the state govt on petitions filed by three members of the Odisha State Commission for Women (OSCW) who were removed from their positions on Nov 9 citing unsatisfactory performance during their tenure. The OSCW chairperson and all four members of the commission were appointed by the previous BJD govt in 2019.
Three of the members — Swarnalata Samal, Bijaya Barwa and Babita Swain — filed petitions challenging the show-cause notices issued to them on Oct 28, as well as the removal notification issued on Nov 9 by the special secretary, department of women and child development. The petitions were taken up together for hearing by Justice S K Panigrahi on Thursday.
After hearing counsel for the parties concerned and perusal of the materials placed on record, Justice S K Panigrahi issued notices to the special secretary, department of women and child development, and OSCW and posted the matter to December 11 for further consideration. “Counsel for the state is directed to file a counter affidavit within 10 days. Rejoinder, if any, be filed by the petitioner one week thereafter,” Justice Panigrahi added.
According to the submissions recorded in the order, senior advocate Ashok Kumar Parija, representing the petitioners, alleged that they were provided insufficient time to respond to the show-cause notices. Hence, the process of removal was unreasonable, violative of natural justice and amounted to unwarranted interference with the independent functioning of the commission, Parija stated.
Countering it, advocate general Pitambar Acharya maintained that the petitioners submitted a reply to the show-cause notice within a day. Hence, they were not denied natural justice. Accordingly, the decision was taken on the basis of their reply. When the department was not satisfied with the reply submitted by the petitioners, they were issued the impugned order. Therefore, there is nothing illegal in the entire process, Acharya claimed.
On behalf of the petitions, Parija also submitted that unsatisfactory performance is not a ground for removal under the Odisha State Commission for Women Act, 1993. “There is no allegation against the petitioners that they refused to perform their duties or became incapable of performing their functions as prescribed under Rule 5 of the OSCW Rules, 2006, or abused their position. Further, the work appraisal of the petitioners was not attached to or referred to in the show-cause letter or in the letter of termination,” the petition alleged.
“The rate of disposal of cases cannot be the sole criterion to evaluate the performance of a commission that performs both administrative and quasi-judicial functions,” Parija contended.