Authority: High Court of Odisha at Cuttack
Order Date: 09 July 2026
Case Overview
- Petitioners (including Prakash Behera) filed writ petitions (W.P.(C) Nos. 28672, 28674, 28675, 28676, 28677, 28678 & 28680 of 2022) against the State of Odisha and others, seeking regularization of their employment after the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) recommended approval to the Government.
- The Government (Opposite Party No.1) rejected the recommendation, leaving petitioners on daily‑wage contracts; they argued that recent Supreme Court judgments (Jaggo v. Union of India 2024 SCC OnLine SC 3826; Shripal v. Nagar Nigam 2025 SCC OnLine SC 221; Dharam Singh v. State of U.P. Civil Appeal No. 8558 of 2018; Bhola Nath v. State of Jharkhand 2026 INSC 99) support their entitlement to regularization.
- Counsel for OTDC affirmed the recommendation and the continued daily‑wage status of petitioners; the State’s counsel argued that petitioners were not occupying sanctioned posts, justifying the rejection.
- The Court relied on its own May 19 2026 judgment in W.P.(C) No.42583 of 2023 and the cited Supreme Court decisions.
Final Outcome
- The Court quashed the impugned orders in all the writ petitions.
- It directed Opposite Party No.1 (the State) to take a fresh decision on regularization, considering the Supreme Court judgments, within two months of receipt of this order.
- Petitioners may submit a copy of this order along with the referenced judgments to the State for compliance.
- All writ petitions are disposed of, and a photocopy of the order will be placed in other connected petitions.
Topics: Regularization, Employment Law, Judicial Review