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2021 Supreme(P&H) 529
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
JASWANT SINGH, SANT PARKASH, JJ.
Renu Bala and others - Petitioner
Versus
The State of Punjab and others – Respondent
Civil Writ Petition No. 10471 of 2021 (O&M)
Decided On : 28-05-2021
For the Petitioners:Mr. Ramandeep Singh, Advocate
Courts should refrain from interfering in administrative decisions applicable to all, unless they are arbitrary, shocking, or mala fide.
Headnote:
Transfer Policy - Discriminatory Transfer Policy - Punjab Education Department Act, Section 6 - The court upheld the Transfer Policy dated 25.06.2019 and rejected the petitioners' challenge to Clause 6 of the policy. The court found that the policy's allocation of higher marks to teachers of higher classes was a reasonable classification and did not amount to discrimination. The court emphasized that it should refrain from interfering in administrative decisions applicable to all, unless they are arbitrary, shocking, or mala fide.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners, primary teachers in Punjab, challenged Clause 6 of the Teachers Transfer Policy and the transfer process, alleging discrimination and flaws in the online portal's data on vacant posts.
Finding of the Court:
The court rejected the petitioners' arguments, upholding the Transfer Policy and finding no merit in their claims of discrimination and flaws in the transfer process. The court also refrained from interfering in the ongoing challenge to the transfer process in another writ petition.
Issues: Challenge to Clause 6 of the Transfer Policy, alleged discrimination, incorrect data on vacant posts, and failure to address objections by teachers.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized that it should refrain from interfering in administrative decisions applicable to all, unless they are arbitrary, shocking, or mala fide.
Final Decision: The writ petition was ordered to be dismissed.
JUDGMENT :
JASWANT SINGH, J.
1. The seven (07) petitioners, namely, [1] Renu Bala; [2] Lakhbir Singh; [3] Pankaj Kishore; [4] Meenu Devi; [5] Harpreet Singh; [6] Pritpal Singh; and [7] Bimal Rani, who are working as primary teachers in various Government schools in State of Punjab, have filed the present writ petition challenging Clause 6 of the Teachers Transfer Policy dated 25.06.2019 (Annexure P-1) and the transfer process arising therefrom, especially the order of transfers dated 06.02.2021 (Annexure P-3) and 05.04.2021 (Annexure P-9) issued by respondent No. 2, i.e. the Director, Education Department (E.E), Punjab.
2. It is argued by counsel for the petitioners that under Clause 6 of the calculation of points on the basis of which transfer of the teachers are to be made, is highly discriminatory. According to him, although weightage of 40 points has been given to the teachers on the basis of their performance but less points are awarded to primary teachers, i.e teachers teaching I to IV whereas higher marks have been given to teachers teaching class V and therefore the clause is discriminatory in nature. It is further argued that whole process of transfer is full of lacunas and flaws as the online portal shows incorrect figures of vacant posts which are lying vacant. Due to incorrect data on the portal, place of postings have been given of the stations where no post in lying vacant. It is also argued that despite objections having been called by the respondents from the teachers, no action has been taken on said objections/ representations and instead respondents are continuing with the transfer process and this action has already been put to challenge in CWP No. 8288 of 2021.
3. We have heard learned counsel for the petitioners at length and scrutinized the paper book.
4. In the present case, since petitioners have laid challenge to Clause 6 of the Transfer Policy, therefore, it would be apposite to reproduce the same alongwith Annexure-B for ready reference:
“ 6. CRITERIA FOR DECIDING THE CLAIM AGAINST VACANCY:
(i) Decision of allotment to a vacancy shall be based on the total composite score of points earned by a teacher, out of 250 points as described below. The teacher earning highest points shall be entitled to be transferred against a particular vacancy.
(ii) Length of Service shall be the prime factor for deciding the claim of the teachers against a vacancy since it shall have weightage of 95 points as per para 6 iii (a), out of total 250 points.
(iii) However, to take care of categories like women, widows, widowers, differently abled persons, persons with serious ailments and well performing teachers, a privilege of maximum 50 points can be availed by the teachers of these categories. The division of points shall be as given in para 6 (iii)(a), 6 (iii) (b) 6 (iii) (c) and 6 (iii) (d) below:-
| Major Factor | Criteria for calculation
| Maximum Marks
|
| Service Points In various zones
| (ZlxLOS1+Z2xLOS2+Z3xLOS3+Z4xLOS4+Z5xLOS5)/Total LOS Z1=10, Z2=20, Z3=30, Z4=40, Z5=50, LOS1= Length of Service in Zone 1 in Days LOS2= Length of Service in Zone 2 in Days LOS3= Length of Service in Zone 3 in Days LOS4= Length of Service in Zone 4 in Days LOS5= Length of Service in Zone 5 in Days LOS is Length of service in Days | 50 |
| Length Of Service
| (Total length of service in Punjab Education Department in days)/365 (upto 4 decimal points) Note: If the marks exceeds 35 then the teacher will get 35 marks | 35 |
b) Special Category (50 marks):
| Sr No | Major Factor | Sub Factor | Maximum Points | Criteria for calculation |
| 1 | Gender | Female | 10 | 10 points will be given to female teachers |
| 2 | Special Category female teachers | Widow/ divorced/ unmarried female/ wife of serving | ||
