No vested right for public servants to remain in posts post-transfer; transfer can be enforced based on administrative exigencies.

ORDER :

K.V. ARAVIND, J.

Heard Sri B. Vinayaka, learned counsel for the petitioner; Sri Vikas Rojipura, learned Additional Government Advocate for respondent No.1 and Sri A. Vishwanath Bhat, learned counsel for respondent No.2.

2. The unsuccessful applicant in Application No.2953/2025 has preferred the present writ petition assailing the order dated 21.08.2025 passed by the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, Bengaluru (for short, 'the Tribunal'). The petitioner was promoted from the post of First Division Assistant to Tahsildar-Religious Endowment (Group-B) and was transferred as Executive Officer (Group-A Junior Scale) at Anantapadmanabha Temple, Kudupu, Dakshina Kannada District, vide notification dated 22.01.2021. He was thereafter transferred and posted as Executive Officer at Sri Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangudu, vide notification dated 13.09.2022.

2.1 The post of Executive Officer at Sri Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangudu, is an encadred post of a Group-A Senior Scale Officer. While so posted, the petitioner was promoted to Group-A Senior Scale and continued as Executive Officer at Nanjangudu. Subsequently, vide notification dated 30.06.2024, the petitioner was transferred and posted as Executive Officer at Sri Siddalingeshwara Temple, Yediyur, Kunigal Taluk, Tumkur District, and the second respondent was posted in his place.

2.2 Aggrieved by the said transfer, the petitioner approached the Tribunal by filing an application, which came to be rejected. Challenging the said order of rejection, the present writ petition has been filed.

3. Sri Vinayaka B., learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that the post of Executive Officer at Sri Srikanteshwara Temple is an encadred post of a Group-A Senior Scale Officer. It is submitted that although the petitioner was initially posted on 22.01.2021 as Executive Officer in the Group-A Junior Scale, he was promoted to the Group-A Senior Scale on 13.03.2024 and was continued in the said post pursuant to the CTC dated 13.03.2024.

3.1 Learned counsel further submits that since the post of Executive Officer at Sri Srikanteshwara Temple is an encadred post of a Group-A Senior Scale Officer, the petitioner must be deemed to have been posted to the said post in that capacity with effect from 13.03.2024, from which date he became entitled to the minimum tenure of posting. Viewed thus, it is contended that the transfer effected vide notification dated 30.06.2024 is premature.

3.2 Learned counsel further submits that the second respondent is a Group-A Junior Scale Officer and, as such, is not eligible to be posted as Executive Officer at Sri Srikanteshwara Temple.

4. Sri Vikas Rojipura, learned Additional Government Advocate appearing for respondent No.1, inviting the attention of this Court to the affidavit dated 08.09.2025, submits that Sri Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangudu, and Sri Siddalingeshwara Temple, Yediyur, are Category-A temples, where Group-A Senior Scale Officers are required to be posted as Executive Officers. Learned AGA further submits that the petitioner was posted as Executive Officer at Sri Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangudu, on 13.09.2022 and has completed the minimum tenure of posting.

4.1 Learned AGA further submits that the period during which the petitioner was posted as Executive Officer prior to his promotion to the Group-A Senior Scale is liable to be reckoned for the purpose of tenure. It is further submitted that there are 22 Category-A temples in the State, whereas only seven Group-A Senior Scale Officers are available in the department.

Owing to administrative exigencies, Group-A Junior Scale Officers are also posted as Exe