The appellant cannot seek a posting of his choice near his home as a matter of right and hence the transfer was held valid before the court: High court of Punjab and Haryana
Transfer policy in government school is when after the discussion of the board in the school they decide if their employees require to be transferred in case of vacancy or any other issue, the transfer can sometimes be an encouragement, sometimes it’s not, here a government school principal was transferred and he pleading before the court to revoke the same. This case was held in the high court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh, the decision was given on 1/07/2021, this was the following case, Manmohan Singh vs. the State of Punjab, the judgment for the following case was finalized and given by Hon’ble Mr. justice Rajan Gupta and Hon’ble Mr. justice Karamjit Singh, this court hearing was held through a virtual platform on account of the covid -19 pandemic.
According to the case a patent appeal was filed by Manmohan Singh (appellant) against the order of the court on 21/05/2021, the appellant was a principal in a government senior secondary school in Sidduwal at the district of Patiala which was reported to be closer to his residence and place of stay, however, this principal was transferred from the above school and was placed to another government senior secondary school in Bhitiwala at the district Sangrur, the appellant was displeased with this transfer and challenged the same before the court. He laid before the court the following reasons as to which this transfer was not valid. The appellant’s wife had tested positive for covid -19 and his mother was 88 years old and his children were of tender age and no one else was supposedly available to take care of his family. The writ petition was dismissed at the beginning after hearing the counsel for the appellant. In the previous order, the court rejected the plea of the appellant and ordered for transfer. Now the counsel for the appellant challenged that order arguing that it was done on the grounds of bad faith and deceit (mala-fide) and his personal domestic problems as well. The counsel further stated that this transfer from the district of Patiala to the district of Sangrur was a violation according to the transfer policy of the state government dated 23/04/2018. On the request of the appellant, the transfer was made from government senior secondary School, Sindduwal on 29/04, and on 11/05/2021 he was transferred to government senior secondary school Bhitiwal, district Sangrur this is done in order to adjust the respondent no. 3 (Jaspal Singh) was reported to have strong political conditions. And according to the counsel the order which was previously passed neglected the facts and circumstances of this case and that’s why was in favor of the transfer. But however in spite of the circumstances mentioned due to his rejection of this transfer the court held that it would not interfere in the matters of the transfer unless it has been done in bad faith ( mala- fide). Even though the counsel for the appellant raised a plea of mala fide in his transfer, the court did not substantiate the same. Here the appellant could not seek a posting of his choice near his home as a matter of right so the pleas and facts and circumstances mentioned in the court by the counsel of the appellant were rejected by the judge.
In conclusion, the court held that “In the light of the above, no ground is made out to interfere in the impugned order dated 21.5.2021 passed by the learned Single Judge. Consequently, this appeal is hereby dismissed.”