CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has set aside an earlier judgment by a single judge that had dismissed the plea of Sanjita Das, then special secretary in the Board of Revenue, Odisha, thereby clearing the way for her consideration for promotion to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) despite her subsequent retirement.
Das, a 1987-batch officer of the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS), retired from service on May 31, 2025. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman has directed the authorities to reconsider her promotion case within three months from the date of judgment and extend all consequential benefits even though she has now retired from service.
Das, during her tenure as additional executive officer at Cuttack Municipal Corporation (1995-2000) faced disciplinary action over alleged irregular appointments, resulting in a minor penalty of one increment withheld, by an order dated July 29, 2011.
But the punishment, due to administrative delays, was implemented only on November 5, 2020, after she had been transferred as administrative officer at SCB MCH and promoted multiple times.
Despite her repeated requests, the penalty was entered into her record nearly a decade late, affecting her 2020 IAS promotion. She challenged the delay in the high court in 2021, but the petition was dismissed on June 25, 2024, with the court holding her responsible for not ensuring timely implementation. A review petition had also failed.
Overruling the single judge’s order, the two-judge bench held that the delay in implementing the punishment was entirely administrative and not attributable to Das. It ruled that the punishment must be deemed to have been executed as of the original order date in 2011 and the delayed entry should not affect her eligibility for promotion to the IAS cadre against vacancies up to 2019.