Bombay High Court
The State Of Maharashtra Through Its ... vs Hareshwar Raghunath Ghuge And Others on 7 August, 2024
Author: Ravindra V. Ghuge
Bench: Ravindra V. Ghuge
2024:BHC-AUG:17743-DB
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
933 WRIT PETITION NO. 8316 OF 2024
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THROUGH ITS
SECRETARY AND ANOTHER
VERSUS
HARESHWAR RAGHUNATH GHUGE AND OTHERS
...
Ms.Neha B. Kamble, AGP for the Petitioners/State.
Shri P.M. Nagargoje, Advocate for Respondent No.1.
Shri Alok Sharma, Advocate for Respondent No.2.
...
CORAM : RAVINDRA V. GHUGE
&
Y. G. KHOBRAGADE, JJ.
DATE :- 07th August, 2024
Per Court :-
1. The State Government is before this Court
challenging the judgment and order dated 21.03.2024, delivered
by the learned Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal, in Original
Application No.240/2024.
2. We have heard the learned AGP on behalf of the
Petitioners/ State and the learned Advocates on behalf of the
Respondents. The issue is as regards transfer of an employee in
view of the general elections considering the various circulars
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issued by the Election Commission of India, primarily the
circular dated 21.12.2023 and the circular dated 22.02.2024,
issued by the State Chief Election Commissioner addressed to
the Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra State.
3. It is undisputed that the person, who needs to be
transferred on account of the elections, should fall in the
following categories:-
a) If she/ he should be directly connected with the
elections.
b) If she/ he is posted in her/ his home district.
c) If she/ he has completed three years in that district
during the last four years or would be completing three
years on or before 30.06.2024.
4. The original Applicant was working as an Assistant
Police Inspector (Traffic), Chhawani Division, Chhatrapati
Sambhajinagar. He was not connected with the elections. Though
Chhatrapati Sambhajinar is his home town, he was not scheduled
to complete three years in the home district on 30.06.2024.
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5. In the above backdrop, the learned Tribunal
concluded that the transfer order issued to the original Applicant
dated 26.02.2024, transferring him from CIDCO Traffic
Division, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Nagpur City on the basis
of the proposal dated 23.02.2024, was bad and the same was
quashed and set aside.
6. We have perused the proposal forwarded by the
Administrative Officer from the office of the Police
Commissionerate, dated 23.02.2024. Those who were connected
with the elections and who were in the hometown are at Sr. Nos.
1 and 2 in the first chart. Those who completed four years or
three years in the hometown, are at Sr. Nos.1 to 5 in the second
chart. The Petitioner is at Sr. No.2 in the third chart, which
indicates his hometown. However, it is nowhere mentioned that
he has completed three years in his hometown.
7. Moreover, from the second chart, Smt. Gita
Motichand Bagwade, Shri Ashok Uttamrao Giri, Shri Avinash
Lakshminarayan Aghav and Shri Dilip Vithoba Gangurde,
challenged their transfers which were within the city, before the
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learned Tribunal. Their transfer orders have been quashed. They
had not joined the place of transfer. The Petitioner, as an obedient
employee, obeyed the transfer order and joined at Nagpur. His
transfer has also been quashed and set aside by the learned
Tribunal. Yet, he has not been brought back from Nagpur to
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. A Contempt Petition is pending.
8. In view of the above, we do not find that the learned
Tribunal has committed any error in quashing and setting aside
the transfer order. The impugned order of the learned Tribunal
cannot be termed as being perverse and erroneous. Merely
because a different view could be possible, would not mean that
the order should be branded as being perverse in the light of the
law laid down by the Honourable Supreme Court in Syed
Yakoob v/s K.S.Radhakrishnan, AIR 1964 SC 477 and Surya
Dev Rai v/s Ram Chander Rai, AIR 2003 SC 3044 : 2003 (6)
SCC 682.
9. This Writ Petition is, therefore, dismissed.
kps (Y. G. KHOBRAGADE, J.) (RAVINDRA V. GHUGE, J.)
