The recognition of a member's right to settle personal affairs before retirement and live peacefully in the twilight of his life is a key legal principle established in the judgment.

Pradeep Nandrajog, J.:--

1. The petitioner who is due to superannuate on May 31, 2016, has as of today, one year, two months and twenty days service left.

2. It is not disputed by the respondents that during this period the petitioner can avail leave for 160 days and would have a right to be sent to a place of his choice for 189 days where he would be receiving training of a kind he desires to enable him to find an avocation when he retires; for the Armed Forces have a benevolent policy under which its members are given training at resettlement courses so that they can gain employment post-superannuation. The purpose of the policy is keeping in view that enrolled and commissioned officers in the Armed Forces superannuate at a fairly young age and are productive assets for the society. Their skills need to be sharpened, and the purpose of the resettlement courses is to sharpen their skills.

3. 160 + 189 = 349. In other words, out of 445 days service left, the actual duties performed by the petitioner would be for 96 days i.e. 03 months.

4. Would it serve any purpose to require the petitioner to perform operational duties with the 8th Mountain Division, currently posted in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

5. Apart from bringing out aforesaid admitted facts noted in paras 1 to 4 above, the petitioner places reliance upon a policy of the Indian Army as per which he would be entitled to a last leg tenure posting at a place of his choice, for the reason the policy envisages that the last leg viable tenure of eighteenth months should be at a place of the choice of the person; of course subject to availability of a job at the place of choice. The policy requires the person concerned to give options so that if it is not possible to post the person at the place of the first choice the second option, followed by the third option can be looked into.

6. The petitioner argues: I have given my option for last leg posting at Delhi and thus without deciding whether I can be continued to be accommodated at Delhi, I should not be posted with the 8th Mountain Division, which the impugned order dated January 30, 2015 does.

7. While conceding that the petitioner is entitled and thus the respondents would be obliged to send the petitioner for training for 24 weeks at the resettlement course and that till he superannuated the petitioner can avail leave for 160 days; but with the caveat that if operational requirements would justify the leave not to be sanctioned or curtailed, the Competent Authority may do so, entitlement of the petitioner for being consider for last leg tenure posting is questioned by the respondents, and for which stand, the relevant facts would be, that the petitioner was posted at Delhi in May 2012 and was attached to the Regional Centre ECHS, as a Director. On May 28, 2013, the Military Secretary Branch took note that the petitioner was due to superannuate on May 2016 and thus would have a right of last leg posting for eighteenth months at a place of his choice. Realizing that it may create a problem if the petitioner was kept at Delhi till when his right to seek last leg posting enured, it was indicated that posting of the petitioner at Delhi should be restricted.

8. Though not expressly stated in the communication dated October 28, 2013, it is implicit that that desirability of posting the petitioner out of Delhi was envisaged, for if the petitioner was kept at Delhi and became entitled to ask for a last leg posting at Delhi, the department would be faced with the problem of retaining the petitioner at Delhi for over four years.

9. Postings at Delhi are privileged and are thus sought by all and sundry. The Indian Army cannot satisfy the request of all because jobs at Delhi are a few.

10. Realizing that the petitioner was required to be moved away from Delhi, the department followed a course of action which would have satisfied the desire of the petitioner and at the same time would have not created any administrative problems f