Orissa high court directs OUAT to appoint dean for veterinary college

CUTTACK: The Orissa high court has directed the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) to fill up the post of regular dean of the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry as soon as possible, preferably within two months.
It expected OUAT to issue fresh advertisement in conformity with statutory provisions governing the field. Earlier, OUAT to fill up the post of regular dean had issued a circular stipulating that the candidate should have held administrative posts to be eligible.
Justice B R Sarangi said the circular cannot sustain in the eye of law as it is contrary to the provisions of the statute. The HC ruling came while allowing two petitions filed by Dr Subash Chandra Parija, professor and HoD of pharmacology & toxicology.
Parija had filed the first petition after his seniority was ignored and Lakshman Kumar Babu, professor and HoD of livestock production and management was directed to be the interim dean.
Later, he filed another petition challenging the circular OUAT issued inviting applications from amongst the professors and persons of equivalent rank of the university for the post of dean as it had a clause that expected the candidates to have held administrative posts. The authorities have acted with mala fide and in gross bias against the petitioner, and the entire endeavour have been made in putting the condition of furnishing holding administrative posts with the supporting documents in order to engage Prof Lakshman Kumar Babu as regular dean, Justice Sarangi observed.
The HC also ruled that engagement of the Prof Lakshman Kumar Babu as interim dean, pursuant to office order dated 07.03.2019, ignoring the seniority of the petitioner, cannot sustain in the eye of law.