‘Children going to school, parents old’, no solid ground to stop transfer: High Court dismisses plea

In a significant judgment, the Rajasthan High Court refused to interfere with the transfer order of a government employee, saying that the petitioner’s contention that his children were school going and parents were old, was not a solid ground to stop the transfer. Not possible. The Single Bench of Justice Vineet Kumar Mathur has also rejected the allegation of any malice in the transfer order of the employee.

Justice Mathur in his order said, “A perusal of the transfer order dated 14.01.2023 shows that a total of 151 persons have been transferred. The transfer order does not apply to the petitioner alone. There is no malafide allegation reflected in it.” Nor has the transfer order passed by the competent authority been challenged on the ground that the authority, which passed the transfer order, was not competent to transfer the petitioner.”

According to the report of ‘Live Law’, in the year 1999, the petitioner was appointed to the post of Patwari. On September 30, 2021, the petitioner was transferred from the office of Inspector Land Records, Tehsil Chikhali, Dungarpur to the office of Inspector Land Records, Bodigama Bada, Tehsil Sabla, Dungarpur. Two years later, again vide order dated January 14, 2023, the petitioner was transferred from Tehsil Sabla to Circle Mohkampura, Tehsil Kushalgarh, District Banswara.

Patwari had approached the court against this transfer. An employee named Hemesh Bhavsar had cited old parents and school going children in his writ petition. The court refused to accept the petitioner’s argument as a solid ground for challenging the transfer. The court also remarked that since the petitioner is a government employee, the government can transfer him anywhere and the court can pass a judgment against him only if there is a solid ground to challenge him.