BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa High Court has upheld the state government’s decision to terminate the appointments of 50 law officers across six districts before completion of their three-year tenure, ruling that they had no vested right to continue in office for the full term.
Dismissing a batch of 11 petitions at the admission stage on Wednesday, Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy held that the state acted within its powers under the Orissa Law Officers Rules, 1971 while replacing the petitioners with a fresh set of appointees.
The petitioners, drawn from Ganjam (23), Balasore (16), Mayurbhanj (7), Kendrapada (6), Sundargarh (3) and Dhenkanal (1) had challenged a December 24, 2025 notification terminating their appointments as law officers with immediate effect. They contended that having been appointed in January 2024, they were entitled to continue for the prescribed three-year tenure.
Examining both the pre-amended and amended versions of Rule 6 of the 1971 Rules, the court noted that while the appointment of a law officer is ordinarily made for three years, the appointment orders issued on January 8, 2024 expressly stated that the appointments would continue until further orders.
“The petitioners have got no vested right of continuance for a period of three years,” Justice Satapathy observed, adding that the appointments were never made on the condition that the officers would necessarily serve the entire tenure.
The court further held that the amended Rule 6 empowers the state government to terminate a law officer before expiry of the normal tenure.
“No illegality or irregularity has been committed by the state government in terminating the petitioners,” the judgment said.
Rejecting the argument that prior notice was mandatory, the court ruled that the 1971 Rules are not statutory in nature but merely provide guidelines for appointment of law officers. Consequently, no such formal notice was required to be issued to the Petitioners prior to their termination. The court also emphasised that law officers do not hold a statutory public office or a civil post.