Cuttack, Aug. 30: Orissa High Court today paved the way for conducting the Odisha Civil Service Examination, 2011, by striking down portions of an order issued by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) that prevented the government from proceeding with the exam.

In a petition, the state government had said that it was not in a position to proceed with the Civil Service Examination because of a SAT order issued on August 24, 2012.

The tribunal had issued the order following petitions against reservation of posts for reserved category candidates (scheduled castes, scheduled Tribes and socially & educationally backward classes) beyond 50 per cent in the state civil services.

The tribunal had stated in paragraph 14 of its order that the state authorities should either approach the Centre for inclusion of the Orissa Reservation of Posts and Vacancies (for Socially & Educationally Backward Classes) Act, 2008, in the IXth schedule of the Constitution or work within the Supreme Court stipulated bar of 50 per cent.

In its petition, the state government had sought quashing of the SAT order, particularly paragraph 14. While allowing the state government’s petition, the division bench of Justice M.M. Das and Justice A.K. Rath observed that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to make the observation.

The petitions were filed before the tribunal after Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) issued an advertisement on November 17, 2011, inviting applications for the Odisha Civil Service Examination, 2011, for recruitment to 364 posts.

Over 55 per cent of the posts were kept in the reserved category (meant for SEBC, SC, ST and others) due to implementation of the 2008 Act that fixed the quota for the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) in government jobs at 27 per cent. The court expressed disinclination to comment on 27 per cent reservation in favour of SEBC candidates as the 2008 Act had not been challenged in any of the petitions filed before the tribunal.

The high court, however, directed the OPSC to issue a corrigendum advertisement on the age-limit criteria.

The advertisement issued on November 17, 2011, allowed candidates below 32 years of age as on January 1, 2011, to take the examination. The court directed OPSC to allow candidates who were below 32 years in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Aspiring candidates in this age category were deprived of appearing in the OCS exam as it was not held during these four years.

The commission in its advertisement had invited applications for the Odisha Civil Service Examination, 2011, for recruitment to 364 posts coming under OCS - Category I and II. While 59 posts were reserved for SC, 81 were reserved for ST. Another 62 posts were reserved for SEBC.

More than 60,000 candidates had submitted application. But the commission had not been able to conduct the examination due to the legal tangle.