Rejecting VRS plea citing dearth of faculty is illegal: HC

THE Orissa High Court has quashed the state government order rejecting the voluntary retirement from service (VRS) application of an orthopaedics professor Dr Rabi Narayan Dhar on grounds of faculty shortage.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Cuttack

The single judge bench of Justice AK Mohapatra has held such action of the government as illegal.

After a stint of 27 years in government service, Prof Dhar had applied for VRS under Rule-42 of the Odisha Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 1992 citing health ailment and some private/personal difficulties on December 27, 2023. He was then professor orthopaedics at PIGMER and Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The state government rejected it citing dearth of faculty in the medical colleges in Odisha on the ground of public interest on February 8, 2024. Prof Dhar had challenged it in the high court on August 20, 2024.