Cuttack, Aug. 19: Orissa High Court has set a 12-day deadline for the state government to implement an order issued by it related to appointment in the state civil services more than three-and-a-half years ago.

Yesterday, the court issued the order on a contempt petition filed by Surya Madhab Panigrahi and Sailendra Kumar Samal.

According to case records, the petitioners were among those selected for Class II posts in the Odisha Civil Services exam in 1987, but were appointed in Class III post as sub-registrar in 1988. They sought intervention of the State Administrative Tribunal. But, the tribunal dismissed their petition in 2005 as 15 years had already passed.

Subsequently, the petitioners moved the high court the same year. But, the case languished till the high court directed the special secretary to the general administration department on January 21, 2014, to appoint the petitioners in Class II post and give them seniority accordingly.

The petitioners filed the contempt petition before completion of one year in January as there was no response when they approached the government with the high court order. But when the court issued notice on the contempt petition, the government received it, but filed a review petition against the January 21, 2014 court order.

The high court, however, rejected the review petition on July 28, 2017, after the state government pleaded that records related to the order had been lost in 2006. Subsequently, the contempt petition was taken up yesterday.

"The division bench of Justice Sanju Panda and Justice S. Pujahari posted the contempt matter to September 1 for hearing, along with the compliance report of the state government on its January 21, 2014 order," petitioner counsel Pravu Kumar Pandit said today.

"The court accordingly directed the special secretary to the general administration department to file compliance report by September 1," Pandit said.

On June 22, the court, while hearing the review petition, imposed a Rs 1,000 fine on the state government after the state counsel failed to file an affidavit in connection with the case and had sought more time.

In its order rejecting the review petition on July 28, the court had specified for depositing the fine if not done. "The fine amount of Rs 1,000 has not been deposited till date," Pandit said.

The state government is expected to deposit the amount before the registrar judicial of high court. "The amount shall be remitted to Orissa State Legal Services Authority immediately," the court had said in its order.