Orissa high court pulls up CAT in case related to Prasar Bharati staff

CUTTACK: The Orissa high court has pulled up the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Monday for not considering the background of litigation while declining to grant interim relief to a casual employee of Prasar Bharati whose 27 years of service was terminated on the basis of instructions over telephone.
While not granting interim stay on the order terminating the service of Smita Jena, CAT makes no reference to the long history of litigation concerning her services where she has been knocking at the doors of concerned authorities for regularization of her services in terms of the scheme floated for that purpose by Prasar Bharati, the HC observed.
While expressing its dissatisfaction, the HC modified the CAT’s April 22 interim order and directed her to report for duty at Prasar Bharati’s Low Power Transmitter (LPT) in Baripada at 10 am on Tuesday.
Smita was working as a technician since April 29, 1994. Her last posting was at the LPT in Baripada. On April 19 her service was discontinued through a letter by the assistant engineer of the High Power Transmitter at Balasore referring to a telephonic discussion with a higher officer.
Smita sought the HC’s intervention after CAT’s Cuttack bench admitted her petition, issued notice to Prasar Bharati, but refused to grant interim stay on the order terminating her service.
The HC said, “Although normally this court would not interfere against an interim order of the CAT, the circumstances in the present case appear to be extraordinary.”
The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice B P Routray said, “It was the background of litigation that was necessary for CAT to have kept in view while considering the petitioner’s case for interim relief. ”
The HC directed status quo as prior to April 19 till the CAT takes up Smita’s petition after receiving the counter affidavit to it.