DILIP WAGHESHWARI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner has challenged in this petition the impugned judgment and order dated 02 -11 -2004 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Ahmedabad Bench, Ahmedabad (for short ?STribunal??) in Original Application No. 502 of 2004, whereby the learned Tribunal dismissed the Original Application filed by the petitioner ? original applicant, challenging his impugned order of transfer dated 23 -09 -2004.

(2.) ON 24 -11 -2004, while admitting this petition by issuing Rule on it, the Division Bench of this Court stayed the impugned order of transfer and ordered status quo ante on three grounds: (i) mala fide; (ii) competency of the authority to transfer the petitioner; and (iii) conditional bail order passed by the Criminal Court, whereby the petitioner was not permitted to leave the area under the jurisdiction of the Court during the pendency of the Criminal Case.

(3.) AFTER 17 years of service at Ahmedabad, the petitioner was transferred by order dated 23 -09 -2004 to Bhubaneshwar. Prior to it, he was placed under suspension on the charge of demanding and accepting bribe. On earlier occasion, he challenged his suspension order before the learned Tribunal by filing Original Application No. 8 of 2003 through his another lawyer Shri Trivedi. There, Shri M. S. Rao was the learned Counsel for the respondents. It appears from the portion of the order passed by the learned Tribunal in Original Application No. 8 of 2003, which is reproduced in paragraph 5 of the present impugned order, that a submission was made by the learned Counsel for the petitioner that if the Authority revokes his order of suspension, then the applicant would go to anywhere in India. On this statement, the Authority considered his case and revoked the order of suspension and transferred him to Bhubaneshwar which was challenged by the petitioner, this time, through Shri Rao, before the learned Tribunal. The challenge failed as the learned Tribunal by its impugned judgment and order dated 02 -11 -2004 dismissed the application. Shri Rao for the petitioner raised the following submissions: