JUSTIN O.A. Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ petition under Article 227 of the Constitution, challenge is made to an order dated 11th of July, 2014 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal in O.A.No.200/443/2014 dismissing an application filed by the petitioner and refusing to interfere with an order of transfer.

(2.) PETITIONER is working as a Junior Engineer (Civil) and is posted in the office of Project Manager C.O.D. Jabalpur. Vide order dated 24.5.2014, he has been transferred from Jabalpur to Bhopal. It is said that the transfer and posting has not been done in accordance to the transfer guidelines contained in the Command Manning Level Posting Batch, 2014. It is the case of the petitioner that as the benefit of ACP Scheme was not granted to him, he had filed an application before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which was allowed and the benefit of ACP Scheme was granted to him. It is said that because of the aforesaid order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal granting him the benefit of ACP Scheme vide Annexure -A2 dated 4th of September, 2013, the departmental authorities were annoyed with him and malafidely have transferred him.

(3.) THAT apart, pointing out that the transfer guidelines as contained in Command Manning Level Posting Batch, 2014 have been violated in transferring the petitioner, the application was filed before the Central Administrative Tribunal. The Central Administrative Tribunal negated all the contentions and held that the allegations of malafide are not proved and as far as the transfer guidelines are concerned, the same is an executive and administrative guideline and cannot be enforced by a Court of Law and after placing reliance on a judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in the cases of Union of India Vs. S.L.Abbas : 1993 (4) SCC 357, State of MP Vs. S.S.Kaurav : 1995 (3) SCC 270, National Hidroelectric Power Corpn. Ltd. Vs. Shri Bhagwan : 2001 (8) SCC 574, N.K.Singh Vs. Union of India : 1994 (6) SCC 98 and State of UP Vs. Gobardhan Lal : 2004(11) SCC 402, dismissed the application of the petitioner on the following grounds : (a) That no malafides are made out. (b) The guidelines are administrative in nature regulating the transfer, it cannot be enforced by the Court of Law in the limited power of judicial scrutiny available. (c) The petitioner has worked in Jabalpur for 18 years and is being shifted in accordance with the scheme, where a tenure of 3 years is fixed for each posting.