HC rejects govt official's plea against transfer

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has rejected the contentions of a superintendent in the block development office of the education department challenging his transfer despite it being inside the same city and within the same department.

The court said the government officer' s contentions regarding hardship or inconvenience were not maintainable. Upholding a Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) order which had earlier rejected his application against the transfer, the HC said, “It (KAR order) indicates that the authority has posted the applicant in the same city and also in the same department.

Therefore, there is no question of hardship or inconvenience caused to the applicant for approaching the Tribunal by making an application by assigning the reasons.” The Division Bench of the HC comprising Justice K Somashekar and Justice Umesh M Adig a which heard the petition filed by Firoz Bhagawan, the Block Education Officer, Belagavi City range, also rejected his reasoning on spousal grounds.

“The g rounds of the spousal ground also do not hold much water as the place remains the same city at Belagavi. Therefore, the transfer has been done during general transfer with approval of the competent authority. Therefore, we do not find any justifiable grounds to interfere or modify the impugned order,” the bench said.

No merit The Department of School Education and Literacy transferred Bhagawan on June 06, 2022. He approached the KAT against this order but this application was rejected on December 21, 2022. He then approached the HC which gave its Judgment earlier this month.  

Bhagawan contended that his transfer was premature as per Clause-8 of the Transfer Guidelines which stipulates that “as no gover nment servant ordinarily be transferred which deputed, if he has not completed his tenure of his posting in that place.”

However, the HC found that one SN Nadaf had already taken over charge which was held by Bhagawan earlier. The Government advocate submitted that the “writ petition be dismissed as being devoid of merits since Bhagawan is relieved and another officer had taken charge in pursuance of the memo issued by the Block Education Officer, City Range, Belagavi on 10.01.2023.”