CUTTACK: In a reprieve to the headmistress of OSAP government high school in Cuttack, the Orissa High Court has quashed the appointment of Santosh Kumar Rout, district education officer (DEO), Cuttack as special officer for the school along with all orders passed by him in that capacity.
The single judge bench of Justice BP Satapathy issued the order recently on a petition filed by headmistress Swarnalata Dei, on finding that the appointment was made with the false plea that there was no management in the school to exercise the administrative powers.
The appointment of Rout as special officer when there was an approved managing committee of the school and initiation of proceeding (against the headmistress) in that capacity are not sustainable in the eye of law, Justice Satapathy ruled, while disposing of the petition.
“Therefore, this court is inclined to quash the appointment of DEO, Cuttack as special officer of the school on July 24, 2018 and consequential initiation of proceeding by him on September 17, 2019,” Justice Satapathy added.
Swarnalata has been the headmistress of the OSAP school since September 11, 2017. The deputy director of secondary education appointed DEO, Cuttack as the special officer on July 24, 2018. Subsequently, the special officer exercised power of the managing committee and placed the headmistress under suspension (pending initiation of the proceeding) through an order on February 11, 2019, only to recall the order on February 20, 2019, when challenged in the court.
But Swarnalata’s administrative and financial powers were withdrawn and she was only allowed to continue as the academic head of the school. Abhijit Bhaskar, headmaster of municipal high school, Cuttack was authorised to exercise the administrative and financial power of the OSAP School from March 2, 2021.