Cuttack, May 11: Orissa High Court has ruled that norms fixed in an advertisement inviting applications for appointment cannot be changed once the selection process has started.

The court held that any change in norms without publication in the like manner in which the initial advertisement was published "is not sustainable in the eye of law".

The court ruling came while adjudicating on a petition with regard to the appointment of a senior resident in gynaecological oncology under unreserved category at the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC) in Cuttack. AHRCC had invited applications for the post of senior residents through an advertisement issued on August 27, 2015. The advertisement stipulated eligibility norms as per a resolution passed by the government on February 3, 2014, making three years of service as assistant surgeon, at least two years of service after postgraduation under government of Odisha as minimum requirement.

But later the selection was done on the basis of a resolution passed by the state government on January 11, 2013, which did not include as minimum requirement three years of service as assistant surgeon, at least two years of service after postgraduation under Government of Odisha. This was done without bringing it to the notice of the candidates.

Applicant Smrutisudha Pattnaik, a doctor serving the government of Odisha in Cuttack, after completion of her postgraduation in obstetrics and gynaecology, challenged the selection for the one unreserved post of senior resident in gynaecological oncology when she was not selected for the job. The selection order had been issued on October 30, 2015.

The single-judge bench of Justice B.R. Sarangi quashed the selection order and directed the AHRCC to make a fresh selection in consonance with the February 3, 2014, government resolution from those who had appeared in pursuant to the advertisement for the post of the senior resident in gynaecological oncology under unreserved category for one post.

"The entire exercise shall be done within a period of one month from the date of communication of this judgment," said Justice Sarangi said, in his May 2 order, a copy of which was made available today.

In his verdict, the judge said: "This court has come to the conclusion that once selection process was started, the norms fixed in the advertisement could not have been changed and if they were liable to be changed then the same should have been published in the like manner in which initial advertisement was published. Non-publication of the norms changed subsequently after starting of the selection process violated Article 16 of the Constitution and thus is not sustainable in the eye of law."

"Consequentially, the selection made for appointment of the senior resident in gynecological oncology under unreserved category, (order issued on 30.10.2015) is hereby quashed," Justice Sarangi ruled.