An officer in the Indian Army cannot be transferred without a valid administrative exigency and cannot be singled out for hostile treatment. Additionally, the officer's right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India cannot be violated.

V. SIVARAMAN NAIR, J.

( 1 ) IN his first personal letter addressed to all officers of the Indian Army, its first Indian Commander-in-Chief, General K. M. Kariappa, laid out perspectives of the Army of the future. Among the various topics which he dealt with, one was transfer. He stated in that letter dated 1st May, 1950, that:"transfers: I am sorry there have been, in the last two years, rather frequent transfers of some officers. This just could not have been and cannot be helped. It is often a question of officers who are sincere and suitable for appointments, being given their proper place as and when vacancies occur. If this is not done, officers then complain that they have been passed over. You cannot have it both ways. When things return to normal and our post-trouble army comes into being, I assure you no such frequent transfers will take place. We will then revert to the old policy of officers being kept on in their appointment for three or four year sat a time and not moved out before, unless it is unavoidable. I would like to ask you all, please not to talk loosely about these matters of promotions, appointments and transfers. I assure you my Military secretary and staff always do their very best in all these matters to see every officer has a fair deal and also to avoid frequent transfers as for as possible, I give this matter my personal attention. " (emphasis supplied) wading through the pleadings in this Writ Petition, I have a lurking suspicion that the Army has miles to go before these promises are fulfilled. It seems that individual whims and fancies still prevail in those matters. That is the impression which I get, on a detailed examination of the affidavits filed on either side - as many as five altogether - with material papers, some of them repetetive - burdening the record.

( 2 ) IT all started probably, because of a tiff between the first respondent-Team leader of a Special Army Team and the petitioner who wa s one of the six officers under him. They were detailed to Bharat Dynamics Limited near Hyderabad. The assignment was in respect of Prithvi and Trishul missile projects of the defence research and development efforts, The officers were hand picked by the vice-Chief of Army staff for their academic excellence and research orientations. We have got the details as far as the petitioner is concerned; and they are quite impressive. Equal if not better, must be the record of the 1st respondent.

( 3 ) PETITIONER was a merit scholar at Sainik School Korukonda (A. P.) from 1969 to 1976. He was a first ranker through out and topped the school in mathematics and science. Naturally, he got an easy access to the National defence Academy at Pune in August 1976. That led to his commissioning in the army on 7th June, 1980 in the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He joined the military college of Electricals and Mechanical Engineering (MC EME), secunderabad. He secured over 80% of marks in the Degree course and was awarded MC EME Commandant s Silver Medal for the best project in Mechanical engineering. He secured nearly 95% of marks in the Graduate Aptitude Test for selection for M. E. Course in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He secured very high first class in that course and was recommended for research scholarship for Ph. D. He could not pursue research, because he had been deputed by the army otherwise. He has completed 12 years of service in various Commands in India. He was selected to a Special Army Team on the project Pridhvi and trishul on 1st July, 1991. The Team is located at Bharat Dynamics Ltd. , Kanchan bagh, Hyderabad. The first respondent who has the rank of Lieutenant Colonel is the Team Leader. Since the Special Army Team has not been formed into a separate Unit, the seven officers in the Team including the petitioner and the first respodent, were attached to their local Units. Petitioner was posted to 1-EME Centre, Secunderabad, whereas the 1st respondent was posted to 54th a

Click Here to Read the rest of this document