The main legal point established is that the Maharashtra Government Servants Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, 2005 provides the competent authority with the discretion to make transfers in the public interest, and the court will not interfere with such transfers unless there is evidence of mala fides or arbitrariness.

1. Rule, rule made returnable forthwith. Heard both sides for final disposal by consent.

2. The petition is filed to challenge the judgment and order of Original Application No.88 of 2014 which was pending before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal, Mumbai, Bench at Aurangabad (hereinafter referred to as "the MAT" for short). The application filed by present respondent No.3 to challenge his transfer and also the transfer of present petitioner is allowed by the MAT. These two persons are working as Inspectors of Weight and Measures in Legal Metrology Department of the State Government.

3. By order dated 31-5-2010 respondent No.3 of the present proceeding was transfered from Malegaon, District Nasik to Chalisgaon, District Jalgaon. Similarly, the petitioner was transfered to Bhusawal. They joined their duties at Chalisgaon and Bhusawal. As per the procedure given in the Maharashtra Government Servants Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act", for short) the transfers of these employees are made by the Chief Controller of this Department and he is the competent authority for all the employees of Class III cadre (Group "C") in the State in this Department. The post of Inspector is Class III Post (Group "C").

4. On 31-5-2013 respondent No.2, the competent authority, issued transfer orders in respect of 22 Inspectors. These 22 persons had completed three years of service, normal tenure at their respective posting places. The Minister of Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, under whose Department the petitioner works gave directions to respondent No.2, competent authority on 12-6-2013 and asked him to see that the remaining Inspectors who had completed three years of tenure are also transferred. It was noticed that the employees who had not joined the new postings under the previous orders of transfer dated 31-5-2010 immediately and who had joined few days after, in the month of June but before 15-6-2010, were not transferred under the transfer orders dated 31-5-2013. The Minister observed that the Department was working as Enforcement Department, and it was not desirable to post such Inspectors on the same post for 4 years i.e. for more than three years. In view of this order of the Minister, respondent No.2 prepared a list of Inspectors due for transfer and submitted it to the Minister. Then the office of the Minister gave direction to the competent authority to issue transfer orders of those employees by using provision of Section 4(5) of the Act. Accordingly, the competent authority issued orders on 5-9-2013.

5. As per the procedure adopted by the Department and the procedure given in the Act, 69 Inspectors were due for transfer in the month of May 2013. In the order dated 31-5-2013, 22 employees came to be transferred and in view of the directions given by the Minister, the remaining 47 Inspectors also came to be transferred under order dated 5-9-2013. The present petitioner was transfered from Bhusawal to Chalisgaon under the order dated 5-9-2013 and respondent No.3 came to be transferred from Chalisgaon, District Jalgaon to Shirpur, District Dhule.

6. Both, petitioner and respondent No.3 joined their new postings immediately after the orders of transfer. Choices of the petitioner and the respondent No.3 were collected by the Department for general transfers in January 2013 itself. Respondent No.3 had given Dhule District as his first choice and he came to be posted in Dhule District under order dated 5-9-2013. The petitioner had given his choice by giving Dhule District as his first choice and Jalgaon District as the second choice. The petitioner got Chalisgaon, District Jalgaon.

7. In the application before the MAT, present respondent No.3 contended that his transfer under order dated 5-9-2013 was mid-term transfer and as no reasons were given, the order was illegal. He also contended that in view of the