Allahabad High Court
Pramod Kumar vs State Of U.P.And Others on 6 November, 2012
Bench: Tarun Agarwala
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
AFR
Court No. - 39
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 51624 of 2012
Petitioner :- Pramod Kumar
Respondent :- State Of U.P.And Others
Petitioner Counsel :- Narendra Mohan
Respondent Counsel :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Tarun Agarwala,J.
The petitioner has challenged his transfer order dated 27.07.2012, by which the petitioner was transferred from Mahoba to Sonebhadra.
The contention of the petitioner is that the transfer was made on the basis of a complaint filed by the local MLA. It has also been stated that the local MLA subsequently withdrew his complaint, inspite of which, the petitioner has been transferred in public interest. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the transfer order was not in public interest, but was politically motivated.
Paragraph-5 of the counter affidavit reveals that based on a complaint made by the local MLA, an enquiry was instituted against the petitioner and, pending enquiry, the petitioner has been transferred in public interest. The Respondents further submits that the enquiry is still pending, and even though, the complaint has been withdrawn by the MLA, it would not be in public interest to transfer the petitioner back during the pendency of the enquiry.
Having heard the learned counsel for the parties, the Court is of the opinion that the mere fact, a complaint has been made by the MLA against the petitioner does not by itself vitiates the transfer order. It is the duty of the representative of the people to express the grievances of the people and place it before the Authority concerned. However, merely because a complaint has been made by an MLA does not mean that the Authority would blindly follow the said complaint and transfer the incumbent. The complaint of the MLA is required to be looked into, for which purpose, a preliminary enquiry must be held. The Authority must find out as to whether there is any truth in the complaint levelled by the MLA and only thereafter, issue a transfer order either in public interest or on administrative ground.
In the instant case, the Authority has transferred the petitioner in public interest and has initiated an enquiry which is not a correct procedure. A prima facie case must be made out during a preliminary enquiry before issuing the transfer order, which in the instant case has not been done. The Court also find that the complaint has been withdrawn.
In the light of the aforesaid, the Court is of the opinion that the transfer order was passed on a false complaint on which, no preliminary enquiry was made. Consequently, the transfer order can not be sustained and is quashed.
The writ petition is allowed.
Order Date:-6.11.2012
Sanjeev
