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2020 Supreme(Jhk) 33
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
S.N. PATHAK, J.
Binit Kumar, son of Late Ram Sagar Sharma - Petitioner
Versus
Jharkhand State, Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited and ors. – Respondents
W.P.(S) No. 6438 of 2018 With W.P. (S) No. 2232 of 2019
Decided On : 22-01-2020
Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioner:Mr. Rajendra Krishna, Advocate, Mr. Jaishankar Tiwary, Advocate, Ms. Neeta Krishna, Advocate.
For the Respondent:Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Advocate, Ms. Amrita Kumari, Advocate
Headnote:
(A) Service Law - Transfer - Transfer is an incidence of service - Employees have no right to stay at a particular place - There is no particular law laid down for transfer but if order of transfer is punitive in nature and smacks malafide, Court cannot close its eyes and is bound to interfere - Authorities ought to have given ample time to petitioner for joining transferred place of posting and should have also considered plea of fag end of service and should have accommodated him at a nearby station - Impugned orders set aside. (Paras 10 and 11)
(B) Jharkhand Service Code, 2000 - Rule 74 - Compulsory retirement from service is not a punishment - It implies no stigma nor any suggestion of misbehaviour - Order has to be passed by Government on forming opinion that it is in public interest to retire a government servant compulsorily - Order is to be passed on subjective satisfaction of Government - Principles of natural justice have no place in context of an order of compulsory retirement - This does not mean that judicial scrutiny is excluded altogether. (Para 10)
JUDGMENT :
Heard counsel for the parties.
2. The relief sought for in both the writ petitions are interlinked and as such have been heard together and are being disposed of by this common order.
3. In the first writ petition i.e. W.P.(S) No. 6438 of 2018, petitioner has prayed for appropriate order for quashing the office order as contained in Memo No. 018/Prabha./01/132 – 1010, dated 06.12.2018, by which he has been transferred from the post of Senior Assistant Manager in the Head Quarter of Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. to the post of Senior Assistant Manager at Dhanbad and respondent no. 3 has been transferred from the post of Assistant Manager, Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd., Ranchi to the post of Assistant Manager in the Headquarter of Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd., Ranchi at the place of petitioner. Petitioner has further prayed for a direction upon the respondents to allow him to continue on the post of Senior Manager in the Head Quarter of Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited till his retirement.
4. In another writ petition i.e. W.P.(S) No.2232 of 2019, petitioner has approached this Court for quashing the office order as contained in Memo No. 494, dated 03.05.2019, by which petitioner has been compulsorily retired/superannuated from the services invoking Rule 74(Kha)(II)(III) of Jharkhand Service Code. Petitioner has further prayed for a direction upon the respondents to allow him to continue in services till his superannuation.
5. The facts of the case in brief, as has been delineated in the writ petitions, is that petitioner was initially appointed as an Assistant Manager on 25.02.1982 in the then Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, having its Head Office at Patna. After reorganization of the State, the service of 352 employees including the petitioner was allocated to the State of Jharkhand and initially he was posted as In-charge District Manager at Giridih. Thereafter, petitioner’s service was transferred to the Headquarter of Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited at Ranchi vide Order as contained in Memo No. 179, dated 28.06.2011 in which paragraphs-2 and 3 thereof categorically shows about working of petitioner in the Headquarter of State Food and Civil Supplies Limited at Ranchi and the same was issued under the signature of Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited. Petitioner was also promoted as Senior Assistant Manager and is the only Senior Assistant Manager in the Corporation and time and again was posted as In-charge District Manager. Petitioner was posted in the year 2004 as In-charge District Manager, Giridih where he continued for four years and, thereafter, he was transferred to Gumla as In-charge District Manager. Petitioner was thereafter again transferred to Giridih as In-charge District Manager and while he was posted at Giridih, he was given the additional charge of District Manager, Dumka. Pursuant to the Memo No. 179, dated 28.06.2011, petitioner was also deputed in the Headquarter so that work of the Headquarter can be conducted properly. Thereafter, pursuant to Memo No. 018/Prabha./01/132-1010, dated 06.12.2018, petitioner was transferred from the post of Senior Assistant Manager in the Headquarter of Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited to the post of Senior Assistant Manager at Dhanbad. Without providing statutory period of relieving and handing over charge, petitioner was hurriedly relieved on the next day i.e. on 07.12.2018. Petitioners also filed representation but no action has been taken and though order for relieving of the petitioner has been passed but petitioner was not given any time enabling him to hand over charge and get delivered. Being aggrieved, petitioner filed W.P.(S) No. 6438 of 2018.
6. During pendency of the writ petition W.P.(S) No. 6438 of 2018, respondents did not
