IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.P.(C) No.19350 of 2026 CNR No.ODHC010458332026 Swarna lata Dhal …. Petitioner Mr. Manoj Kumar Khuntia, Advocate -versus- State of Odisha and another …. Opp. Parties Mr. Kailash Chandra Kar, Govt. Adv. CORAM: THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE CHITTARANJAN DASH Order No. ORDER 28.08.2026 02. 1. Heard learned counsel for the parties. 2. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the matter was heard at length and this Court was of the view that the matter be disposed of with a direction to the authority to consider the representation of the Petitioner dated 25.02.2026. 3. By means of this application, the Petitioner seeks a direction to the Opposite Parties to promote her to the rank of Assistant Engineer with effect from 07.10.2023 and to the post of Assistant Executive Engineer with effect from 12.02.2026, i.e., from the date when Opposite Party Nos.3 to 12, being junior to the Petitioner, were granted promotion, with all financial and consequential benefits. 4. The background facts of the case are that the Petitioner was appointed as a Junior Engineer on a contractual basis on 15.11.2013 and joined on 18.11.2013. Undeniably, the Petitioner is covered under the Odisha Contractual Appointment Rules, 2013. Subsequently, she was regularized vide order dated 14.02.2023 by the Engineer-in-Chief (Civil), Odisha, with effect from the date of her initial appointment, in accordance with the extant Rules. However, subsequently, vide order dated 29.05.2024, the order of regularization was modified and she was regularized with effect from 18.11.2019 in place of 18.11.2013. The subsequent gradation list was prepared on 26.07.2024 and the final gradation list was also prepared on 16.12.2024, to which the Petitioner made a representation objecting to her placement in the said gradation list. However, the notification was issued by the authority on 12.02.2026, a copy whereof has been annexed at Annexure-12 to this Writ Petition. 5. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid action of the authority, the Petitioner moved the Principal Secretary to Government, Works Department, Lokseva Bhawan, Bhubaneswar, claiming her promotion to the rank of Assistant Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineer from the date when her juniors were granted promotion. The representation is still to be considered by the authority, and the Petitioner, in the course of hearing of the application, gracefully submits that, in the event a direction is issued to the authority for consideration of the representation, it would be a reprieve to the Petitioner. 6. Accordingly, in the absence of any objection from the side of the learned AGA, the Opposite Party No.1, i.e., the Principal Secretary to Government, Works Department, Lokseva Bhawan, Bhubaneswar, is directed to consider the representation of the Petitioner dated 25.02.2026, which is pending before her, if the same has not been disposed of in the meanwhile, within a period of four (04) weeks thereafter, and communicate the result thereof to the Petitioner within a period of two (02) weeks thereafter. 7. Accordingly, the Writ Petition stands disposed of. (Chittaranjan Dash) Judge AKPradhan Designation: Senior Stenographer