MRINAL CHANDRA DAS Vs. STATE BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The scope of judicial review in matters of transfer in service is well settled. Interference in exercise of the extra-ordinary jurisdiction conferred upon this Court by Article 226 of the Constitution of India is circumscribed as transfer is normally an incidence of service which is made to meet the exigencies of the authority. Ultimately, it is the prerogative of the authority to determine and decide as to how the services of an employee can be best utilised. At the same time, there are certain well-defined exceptions in which such order of transfer can be the subject matter of interference in exercise of powers of judicial review. The exceptions are broadly violation of the statutory rules or norms governing the service conditions, including transfer and secondly, the element of mala fide which might have played a role in issuing such transfer order. Interference is also warranted in certain cases of frequent transfer or transfer being done at the behest of persons who are not directly part of the system.

(2.) With this backdrop, let us now come to the facts of the case in hand.

(3.) The petitioner has put to challenge orders of transfer dtd. 25/8/2020 as well as 22/9/2020 issued by the authorities of the State Bank of India (Bank) and for a direction to allow him to join at Dadara, Kamrup (R) as per order dtd. 28/5/2020 or Raha as per order 18/9/2020. The petitioner is also agreeable that alternatively, he may be posted in any place near Guwahati so that he can take proper care of his ailing mother, who also suffers from a disability.