Pradeep Chadha vs State Of H.P. & Anr
2023 Latest Caselaw 13081 HP

IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIMLA

CWP No.3080 of 2023 Decided on: 6th September, 2023 _________________________________________________________________

.

    Pradeep Chadha                                                          ....Petitioner

                                      Versus





    State of H.P. & anr.                                                    ...Respondents

_________________________________________________________________

Coram

Ms. Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua

1 Whether approved for reporting?

_________________________________________________________________

For the petitioner: Mr. Onkar Jairath, Advocate.

For the respondents: Mr. Rupinder Singh Thakur & Mr. Varun Chandel, Additional Advocates

General and Mr. Rajat Chauhan, Law Officer for respondent No.1.

Mr. Sanjeev Bhushan, Senior

Advocate, with Mr. Ashwani Chawla, Advocate, for respondent No.2.

Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Judge

Challenge in this petition is to the notification

dated 17.5.2023 (Annexure P-8), whereby respondent No.2,

who was serving as Executive Engineer in Jal Shakti Division

Hamirpur, District Hamirpur was brought to the petitioner's

Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? yes

place of posting at Jal Shakti Vibhag (JSV) Division

Chauntra, District Mandi. One Shri Rajeev Sehgal (not a

party to the petition) was brought to the place of posting of

.

respondent No.2, i.e., Jal Shakti Division, Hamirpur. No

further posting was assigned to the petitioner under the

impugned order. Aggrieved against this notification dated

17.5.2023 (Annexure P-8), the petitioner has preferred this

writ petition.

2. Brief reference to relevant facts is as under:-

2(i) On placement as Executive Engineer, the

petitioner was posted at I&PH Division, Indora vide

notification dated 03.06.2019 (Annexure P-1).

2(ii) On 6.5.2021 (Annexure P-2), petitioner was

transferred from Jal Shakti Division, Indora to Jal Shakti

Vibhag (JSV) Circle, Dharampur, District Mandi as EE

(Design). The petitioner remained under transfer. On

20.5.2021 (Annexure P-3), he was further transferred to the

office of Engineer-in-Chief (JSV), Head Quarter, Shimla.

2(iii) On 01.06.2021 (Annexure P-4), the petitioner was

transferred from the office of ENC, Jal Shakti Vibhag, Shimla

to Jal Shakti Division, Karsog, District Mandi.

2(iv) Vide notification dated 19.4.2022 (Annexure P-5),

the petitioner was once again transferred from JSV Division,

Karsog, District Mandi to JSV Division, Chauntra, District

.

Mandi. About two months later, another notification was

issued on 29.6.2022 (Annexure P-6), whereby he was

transferred from JSV Division Chauntra, District Mandi to

SNP Division, Sansarpur Terrace, District Kangra.

At this stage, feeling aggrieved against his transfer

from JSV Division, Chauntra, District Mandi to SNP Division,

Sansarpur Terrace, District Kangra, the petitioner preferred

CWP No.4350 of 2022.

The respondents placed on record of that writ

petition the instructions dated 5.7.2022. The instructions

reflected that petitioner had been transferred from Chauntra

merely on the basis of U.O note. On that basis, the said writ

petition was allowed on 6.7.2022 (Annexure P-7).

Accordingly, the impugned transfer order dated 29.6.2022

transferring the petitioner from JSV Division, Chauntra to

SNP Division, Sansarpur Terrace, District Kangra was

quashed and set aside. The petitioner remained at Chauntra,

where he was originally posted on 19.4.2022.

3. The petition-

3(i) The genesis of this writ petition lies in the

notification dated 17.5.2023 (Annexure P-8). This notification

.

effects a triangular transfer, i.e, one Shri Rajeev Sehgal has

been brought to the place of posting of respondent No.2-Shri

Sanjay Thakur at Jal Shakti Division, Hamirpur; respondent

No.2 has been transferred to the place of posting of petitioner,

i.e., JSV Division, Chauntra, District Mandi whereas no

further posting order has been assigned for the petitioner.

3(ii). On 25.3.2023, it was directed to maintain status

quo as on date with respect to implementation of impugned

notification dated 17.5.2023 (Annexure P-8) qua the

petitioner and respondent No.2.

3(iii). Learned senior counsel for respondent No.2 stated

that respondent No.2 had already joined by that time at JSV

Division, Chauntra and this fact was purposely concealed by

the petitioner. Learned counsel further submitted that

respondent No.2 had only put in about six months at JSD,

Hamirpur before he was transferred under the impugned

order from JSD Hamirpur to JSV Division Chauntra. Prayer

was also made to direct the respondents for releasing his

withheld salary for the period subsequent to his transfer to

Chauntra.

According to learned counsel for the petitioner,

.

the petitioner had not been relieved in accordance with law

from Chauntra and further that pursuant to the interim order

dated 23.5.2023, petitioner has continued to serve at JSV

Division, Chauntra. He further submitted that no further

place of posting was assigned to the petitioner by respondent

No.1. r 3(iv). Learned Law Officer appearing for respondent

No.1 has produced the record. Learned Law Officer on the

basis of record submitted that the petitioner's transfer to

I&PH Division, Indora vide notification dated 3.6.2019 was on

the basis of administrative proposal; his subsequent transfer

to Jal Shakti Circle Dharampur, District Mandi was also on

the basis of administrative proposal; however, petitioner's

transfer from Jal Shakti Circle, Dharampur to the office of

ENC, Jal Shakti Vibhag, Shimla was made on the basis of

U.O of the Minister, Jal Shakti Vibhag. It was further

submitted that petitioner's subsequent transfers from the

office of ENC, Shimla to JSV Division, Karsog and thereafter

from JSV Division Karsog to JSV Division Chauntra were

purely on the basis of administrative proposals.

Learned senior counsel for respondent No.2

.

disputes this matter. Be that as it may. Learned Law Officer

on the basis of record further submitted that the impugned

transfer order of the petitioner from JSV Division Chauntra to

Sansarpur Terrace, was issued on the basis of U.O note of

Minister of Jal Shakti Vibhag at the instance of Shri Rajeev

Sehgal. r

4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, gone

through the case file, the record and also perused the

instructions sheet placed on record by the learned Law

Officer.

Both, the petitioner as well as respondent No.2,

are serving as Executive Engineers. They belong to Class-I

cadre. No doubt, condition of minimum tenure of 3 to 5

years is not ipso-facto applicable to the holders of Class-I

post, however, every case has to be examined on its own

facts. In the instant case, petitioner has been subjected to

frequent transfers in recent past. But for petitioner's one

transfer to the office of ENC, Shimla, where he served for

about a month, all other transfers of the petitioner were

ordered by the Department on its own. He was transferred

to JSV Division, Chauntra on 19.4.2022 and in just about

.

two months, he was again transferred vide notification dated

29.6.2022 from JSV Division Chauntra to SNP Division,

Sansarpur Terrace (Kangra). The writ petition filed by him

against this transfer was allowed on 6.7.2022 on the ground

that the order was issued merely on the basis of a U.O note.

Ten months later, the petitioner was once again transferred

under impugned order to make way for respondent No.2's

posting at his (petitioner's) place without even indicating

petitioner's next place of posting.

In the given facts and circumstances of the case,

as they emerge from the record, it is a fit case, where

notwithstanding the fact that petitioner and respondent No.2

belong to Class-I cadre, the transfer order deserves to be

interfered with. This writ petition is accordingly allowed.

The impugned notification dated 17.5.2023 (Annexure P-8) is

quashed and set aside qua the petitioner and respondent

No.2. The petitioner shall be allowed to work at JSV Division

Chauntra (Mandi) pursuant to notification dated 19.4.2022

(Annexure P-5). Considering the fact that respondent No.2

had served at JSV Division Hamirpur only for a period of

about six months prior to his transfer at petitioner's place of

.

posting at the instance of Shri Rajeev Sehgal (not a party to

the case), who had obtained a U.O note for being adjusted at

the place of respondent No.2, respondent No.1 is directed to

take a fresh call in their matter within a period of twenty

days from today. Respondent No.1 is also directed to release

the salary of respondent No.2 for the period in question

within three weeks.

The writ petition stands disposed of in the above

terms, so also the pending miscellaneous application(s), if

any.

Jyotsna Rewal Dua Judge

September 6, 2023 mamta