The University Grants Commission on Thursday wrote to Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) and the Higher Education department citing violation of the Odisha Universities (Amedement) Act (2020).
The Commission has also asked OPSC and Higher Education department to refrain from any recruitment of teacher/faculty adhering to Supreme Court's stay order.
According to source, UGC has assailed the judgement passed by the Odisha High Court which had upheld the validity of Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act (2020) through special leave petition.
Hearing the petition May 20, the Supreme Court had stayed the operation of impugned judgment for a period of three months. However, OPSC and Higher Education Department violated the SC rule and undertook recruitment to the post of assistant professor of Sociology and assistant professor (commerce).
“Since the recruitment of teachers/faculties by the Odisha Public Service Commission and that of non-teaching staff by the State Selection Board, is directly in issue in the aforesaid SLPs pending before the Supreme Court, the continuation of the recruitment process will be in the teeth of the stay order dated 20.05.2022 granted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the letter read.
"The Odisha Public Service Commission may kindly take note of the Hon'ble Supreme Court's order dated 20.05.2022 and refrain from undertaking any further step(s) for any recruitment of teachers / faculty, including in terms of advertisement no. 08 of 2020-21 and/or the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act (2020). The Hon'ble Supreme Court's stay order also applies with respect to any recruitment process that commenced prior to the said stay order. The UGC also reserves all its rights to take appropriate legal remedy in this regard," the letter stated.