Authority: High Court of Orissa at Cuttack

Order Date: 05 October 2026

Case Overview

  • Parties: Managing Committee of Panchayat High School, Bailo, Keonjhar (Petitioner) represented by Mr. D. K. Mohapatra, Advocate; versus State of Orissa and others (Opposite Parties) represented by Ms. S. Mohanty, ASC.
  • Nature of Petition: The petitioner sought a judicial direction for the State to release salary components/grant‑in‑aid to its staff either from 01‑Jun‑1995 or from the date of each staff member’s eligibility under the Grant‑in‑Aid Order, 1994, instead of the Block Grant regime that commenced in 2004.
  • Legal Foundations Cited:
  • FAO No.509 of 2014 disposed on 19‑Mar‑2025, upheld by the Apex Court on 25‑Mar‑2026, which dismissed SLP (Civil) Diary No.6943 of 2026.
  • State of Odisha v. Ratnakar Mohapatra (supra) – held that the Grant‑in‑Aid Order, 1994 remains applicable to staff whose proposals were submitted before its repeal in 2004.
  • State of Odisha v. Anup Kumar Senapati and another (2019) 19 SCC 626 – clarified that the decision does not bar extension of benefits under the 1994 order.
  • A similar benefit was extended in W.P.(C) No.21651 of 2026, disposed on 15‑Jul‑2026.
  • Court’s Reasoning: The Court observed that, in light of the settled position of law affirmed by the Apex Court in Ratnakar Mohapatra, there is no legal impediment to granting the differential arrears to the petitioner’s staff. The Court therefore inclined to direct the opposite party to consider the representation annexed as Annexure‑5.

Final Outcome

  • The writ petition is disposed with a direction to opposite party No.2 (the State) to examine the representation (Annexure‑5) and pass a reasoned order on the grant‑in‑aid salary components, preferably within four weeks from receipt of this order.
  • A copy of the order shall be handed to the learned counsel for the State for intimation and compliance.
  • The Court directed issuance of an urgent certified copy of the order as per procedural rules.

Topics: Grant‑in‑Aid Salary Arrears, Education Sector Funding, Judicial Direction