Adjudicating over the PIL filed by a Bhubaneswar-based advocate, a division bench comprising Chief Justice C Nagappan and Justice Pradeep K Mohanty yesterday issued notices to the respondents asking them to file their counters in two weeks.
The respondents include Odisha Chief Secretary, secretaries of Department of Science and Technology of both the state government and the Government of India and heads of IMA and ISI.
The PIL stated that IMA is a prestigious institute of the state government functioning with its own massive infrastructure over a land of 22 acres in the Andharua area of Bhubaneswar.
"If the ISI proposes to have its branch office in Bhubaneswar, then it can do so by setting up its own infrastructure," the PIL said.
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The government hoped that after the merger research on mathematical and statistical studies would be enriched, but the petitioner argued that the institute would only lose its identity with it was merged.
Subsequently, the governing body of the IMA endorsed the proposal in January, this year, sources said.