Uttarakhand High Court
WPSB/6/2023 on 7 January, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
AT NAINITAL
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI VIPIN SANGHI
AND
HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI
WRIT PETITION (S/B) NO. 06 OF 2023
07TH JANUARY, 2023
BETWEEN:
Deepak Chandra Tewari .....Petitioner.
And
State of Uttarakhand & others ....Respondents.
Counsel for the Petitioner : Mr. G.D. Joshi, learned counsel.
Counsel for the Respondents : Mr. K.N. Joshi, learned Deputy
Advocate General.
The Court made the following:
JUDGMENT:(per Hon'ble The Chief Justice Sri Vipin Sanghi)
The petitioner has preferred the present writ
petition to assail the order dated 22.11.2022, passed by
respondent no.2, whereby the petitioner, who was posted as
an Additional Assistant Engineer (Civil), National Highways
Division, Haldwani, has been transferred to Construction
Division, Public Works Department, Guptkashi.
2. The petitioner, admittedly, has rendered service in
durgam area only for a period of about five years between
2013 to 2018. Thereafter, he was remained at Haldwani for
over four years now. The challenge to the transfer has been
made firstly, on the ground that the higher authorities have
expressed the requirement of the petitioner at Haldwani in
view of the ongoing projects.
3. We do not find merit in this submission. If the not
for the officer, who is under transfer, to assess his need to
serve at a particular place. Despite the recommendation to
retain the petitioner, who has been serving at the same
posting since 2018, he has been transferred, obviously,
keeping in mind the need to avail of the petitioner's services
within the organization at another location. We deprecate this
practice of the officers under transfer obtaining
recommendation letters, so as to avoid his/ her transfer. We,
therefore, reject this ground to challenge the impugned
transfer.
4. The further submission of the petitioner is that
options were not called from him before transferring him to
durgam area in terms of Section 9 of the Uttarakhand Annual
Transfer of Public Servants Act, 2017.
5. The petitioner has approached this Court to assail
the transfer made on 22.11.2022, i.e. nearly one and a half
months later. He has not joined the transferred post. We
make it clear that his not joining at the transferred post was
at his own peril. Merely because the petitioner claims that his
representation is pending, is no ground to not to abide by the
transfer order. In case the petitioner does not join at the
transferred post within three days from today, it shall be
open to the respondents to take appropriate disciplinary
action against the petitioner.
6. After the joining of the petitioner at the transferred
post, he be granted options in respect to other durgam areas
where he could be posted within one month.
7. The writ petition is disposed of in the aforesaid
terms.
8. Pending application, if any, also stands disposed of.
(VIPIN SANGHI, C.J.)
(MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI, J.)
Dated: 07th January, 2023
NISHANT
