MURTHY Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has called in question validity of the order of transfer at Annexure - A dtd. 23/12/2021. The facts made out in the petition is that respondent No.6 has been posted to the place of the petitioner as per the impugned order at Annexure-A dtd. 23/12/2021. Insofar as the posting of the petitioner is concerned, it is only observed that the petitioner is to report to the competent authority for obtaining an order for posting. It is further noticed that it is only on 20/7/2022, more than about six [6] months after the order at Annexure - A, during the pendency of the present proceedings, the petitioner has been given an order of posting at the Town Municipal Counsel, Ullal (for vacant post).

(2.) The only point that requires to be considered is as to whether the order of transfer after the period of general transfers could be upheld where no order of posting has been shown as regards the petitioner. The legal position insofar as not showing order of posting of an employee in whose place another employee has been placed, has been considered in detail by the Division Bench of this Court in M.Arun Prasad Vs. The Commissioner of Excise and Others[W.P.No.58931/2016 (S-KAT) dtd. 2/3/2017]. The observations at Paragraph Nos.4 to 7 are reproduced below:

(3.) It is clear that the position of law is settled that passing an order of transfer without showing place of posting would suffer from legal malafide. This position is reiterated by the Division Bench of this Court in the latest decision in Mahiboob Sab Vs. The State of Karnataka and Others[W.P.No.16363/2021 (S-KSAT) dtd. 31/5/2022]. It is also to be noticed that this is the stand of the Government as is noticed from the Circulars of 18/1/2017 and 27/3/2017. In fact, the Circular of 27/3/2017 further stipulates that reasons must be recorded in writing for not showing posting to any Government Servant and such reasons should be "compelling administrative reasons like non availability of post due to abolishment/up-gradation/down-gradation, shifting in lieu of suspension, requirement of Government Servant to perform urgent confidential work in a post, unsuitability or inefficiency to work in the existing vacancy or for being utilized against temporary and leave vacancy etc., which are only illustrative but not exhaustive". Procedure is also shown to review orders of transfer by the Head of the Department where person displaced is not shown posting recording reasons in writing.