Transfer orders violating seniority jurisdiction are improper; employee rights must be balanced with administrative needs.

ORDER :

(ARUN MONGA, J.)

1. Before this Court are, unskilled/semi-skilled and/or skilled (Category 'A' or 'B') staff members of the two Power Distribution Companies (discoms) operating in State of Rajasthan, i.e. Jodhpur Vidhyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. (JVNL) and Ajmer Vidhyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. (AVNL). Vide instant order the entire bunch of above numbered petitions is being disposed of as same controversy is involved therein.

2. Common grievance being, that by virtue of mass transfers carried out by both the Discoms, the petitioners have not only been dislodged, but their service conditions have also been adversely changed qua inter-se seniority, which are to be maintained at Sub divisional/Divisional Level.

3. Given the nature of controversy, the individual facts in the various petitions need not be gone into.

3.1. What is assailed herein is the legality of the transfer orders being in alleged violation of the applicable service rules, as well as, the administrative impropriety of giving complete short shrift to even the deserving cases of extreme hardships which the petitioners would be confronted with.

3.2. Averment also is that the transfer exercise has been carried out in the most mechanical manner, which on the face of it, though may not be punitive, but unwittingly many of the employees would have to relocate themselves to very far off places. Notwithstanding, that they are on the bottom of the pyramid of the human resource deployed by Discoms. Thus, being at the entry level of pay-scales equivalent to those of either Class- IV or Class-III employee of their counterparts, who are serving in the State Government, they can financially ill afford to relocate their families and/or make housing arrangements for them.

4. At the very threshold, pertinent it is to note that the applicable service rules in both the Discoms are pari passu. Therefore, interpretation thereof would be applicable across board to both the discoms.

4.1. In fact, the service conditions vis-a-vis the applicable rules owe their genesis to the erstwhile parent organization, i.e., Rajasthan State Electricity Board. After enactment of the Electricity Act, 2003, a trifurcation of Rajasthan State Electricity Board took place, by virtue of which it was unbundled into three entities, i.e. Power Generation, Power Transmission and Power Distribution (Discoms).

4.2. Prior to trifurcation, ibid, a Memorandum of Settlement, under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, was executed on 26.01.1970 between the then Rajasthan State Electricity Board and Prantiya Vidhyut Mandal Mazdoor Federation (which continues to be existing even as on today to serve the cause of staff of both discoms). Relevant extract i.e. Appendix 'B' of the Memorandum, ibid, reads as under:-

"APPENDIX 'B'

SUB: TRANSFERS OF TECHNICAL STAFF