The High Court denied a plea from the school principal opposing his or her transfer.: Himachal Pradesh High Court
The High Court of Himachal Pradesh denied a plea from the school principal opposing his or her transfer., is upheld by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh through the learned Judge JUSTICE TARLOK SINGH CHAUHAN andCHANDER BHUSAN BAROWALIA, in the case of Sh Milap Chand v. state of Himachal Pradesh and others(C.W.P. No. 1607 of 2021)
Brief facts of the case:
The petitioner Milap Chand worked for the government for quite some time before being elevated to the position of headmaster on 24.04.2018 and being assigned to the government high school in Naila, Tehsil Churah, District Chamba. Petitioner was then assigned to his current position as principal at the government senior secondary school in Dugli, Tehsil Churah, District Chamba on September 29, 2020.
Petitioner has completed normal tenure in hard area, is over the age of 55, and has family compelling circumstances; therefore, he has asked the High Court to direct the state to decide his representations for transfer to a soft area/station and post him at either GSSS Chadhiar, Sub-Tehsil Chadhiar, District Kangra, H.P., or GSSS Dhupkiara, Tehsil Jaisinghpur, District Kangra, H.P.
Petitioner’s attorney Sanjay Jaswal said, “The wife of the petitioner is suffering from hearing impairment and is being treated at Rajiv Gandhi Post Graduate Ayurvedic College and Hospital Paprola, District Kangra, H.P.” Also, the petitioner’s wife has a gallbladder stone and needs surgery, but no one in the family can take care of her because their son works in the private sector in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and their two daughters are also in school.
The petition was reviewed by a bench consisting of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Chander Bhusan Barowalia, who relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Avinash Nagra vs. Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and others (1997) 2 SCC 534, in which the court addressed the importance of girls’ education and the role of a school’s faculty.
JUDGEMNET:
When a government school principal challenged his transfer on the grounds that he was over 55 years old, the court dismissed his petition and noted, “Education Department is probably one of the biggest litigant before this Court and majority of these petitions only relate to the transfer and adjustment of the teachers.”
“The headmaster, who are subsequently elevated as principals, are in all likelihood obligated to be beyond 55 years old, and on being promoted as such are liable to be transferred/served anywhere in the State,” the Court stated. Therefore, “no exception can be filed against the transfer on the premise that the petitioner has exceeded the age of 55,” the court said.
JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY – HARILAKSHMI