RAMDEV SINGH Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is a Range Officer who was transferred from Ramkote Range and has been ordered to hand over his charge and report in the Office of C.F. East Circle, Jammu, for being available for the matter of completion of an enquiry into the case by the C.F. East Circle, Jammu. This order seems to have been passed for some administrative reasons.

(2.) The direct question that falls for determination of this Court is as to whether such an order could be passed. An argument on behalf of the petitioner has been advanced by the learned counsel for the petitioner, that the order is one of punishment, therefore could not have been passed. Learned counsel appearing for the other side submits that this is not so. The order has been passed simply to enable the Department to conduct an enquiry against the Officer and to ensure that the petitioner does not have any occasion to tamper with the record and evidence and exercise undue influence upon witnesses. At the outset the main features of the order and the judicial verdict of this Court as also the Supreme Court shall have to be noticed.

(3.) True that transfer cannot be ordered by way of punishment. If the order impugned was an order of punishment, I would have readily accepted this version but the order on its own text suggests that the officer has to report in the Office of CF East Circle, Jammu, so that he is readily available for completion of enquiry which is in pipeline against him. It is not a case of sending the petitioner to a far flung area. The intention of the order seems to be to remove the petitioner from his present post for the obvious reasons that he stops yielding influence upon his subordinates and is unable to destroy evidence that possibly can come up against him. Therefore, I do not find the order impugned to be an order of punishment. This brings us to the direct question as to whether or not, during the pendency of an enquiry an official can be transferred from a particular place in order to ensure a free and fair enquiry. The answer of this question seems to be in affirmative.