Rajasthan High Court Limits Review of Transfers After Flood of Employee Petitions

The Rajasthan High Court has said a flood of petitions from government employees against their transfers has disrupted the functioning of the state government, because most of those transferred are refusing to join their new postings. Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand made the remark while dealing with a batch of writ petitions led by Vinod Agarwal v. State of Rajasthan, in an order reported on October 21. The court found no ground to interfere with the transfers in this batch, but stayed the orders for four weeks so that employees can first approach their departments.

Two Weeks to Represent, Two to Decide

Under the order, the petitioners may file representations before the competent authorities within two weeks. The authorities must then decide those representations within a further two weeks. The transfer orders remain stayed for four weeks in the meantime. Employees who are unhappy with the decision will have to find another route, as the court said Article 226 cannot be used as a second appeal against transfer orders.

Only Four Grounds for the Court to Step In

The court said judicial review of transfers is very limited. It will step in only where an order was passed out of malice or bias, in violation of a statutory provision, by an authority that had no power to pass it, or where an employee faces extreme hardship such as a life-threatening disease. Personal inconvenience, family hardship and a long stay at one place do not count. “Transfer is an incidence of service,” the court said, adding that no employee has a vested right to stay at a place of choice.

Courts Have Been Crowded With Transfer Cases

This is not the first time transfers have crowded the court’s list this year. On August 17, Justice Sameer Jain stayed the transfers of 468 officers, teachers and lecturers who had petitioned the court, asked departments to hear them within 15 days, and set up a committee including retired High Court judge Alok Sharma, the Advocate General and the Chief Secretary to frame a transfer policy within 60 days. He also told the state to fill the posts of chairperson and members of the Rajasthan Administrative Tribunal on time. LiveLaw reported that employees were approaching both the High Court and the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal for stays.

The order does not give a fixed next hearing date. The dates to watch are the two-week window for representations and the four-week end of the stay. For more court coverage, see the Daily Updates section.

Source: Based on reporting by LiveLaw. Background from The Sootr.

Image: LiveLaw.