On 2 September 2011, a Division Bench of this Court has referred two questions of law for consideration of the Full Bench:

(1) Whether a police constable working in the civil police who has rendered service for more than ten years cannot be transferred to another branch in view of the provisions of Regulation 525 of the Uttar Pradesh Police Regulations in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in Jasveer Singh Vs. State of U.P. & Ors.1

(2) Whether the government railway police and civil police constitute one cadre or different service cadres.

2. The controversy before the Court revolves around the provisions of Regulation 525 of the Uttar Pradesh Police Regulations. Regulation 525 provides as follows:

"525. Constable of less than two years' service may be transferred by the Superintendent of Police from the armed to the civil police or vice versa. Foot police constables may be transferred to the mounted police at their own request. Any civil police constable of more than two and less than ten years' service may be transferred to the armed police and vice versa by the Superintendent for a period not exceeding six months in any one year. All armed police constables of over two years' service and civil police constables of over two and under ten years' service may be transferred to the other branch of the force for any period with the permission of the Deputy Inspector-General.

In all other cases the transfer of Police Officers from one branch of the force to another or from the police service of other Provinces to the Uttar Pradesh Police requires the sanction of the Inspector-General.

3. In order to facilitate an analysis of Regulation 525, it would, at the outset, be appropriate to breakdown several parts of the Regulation into separate sentences. We now proceed to do so:

(i) A constable of less than two years' service may be transferred by the Superintendent of Police from the armed police to the civil police or from the civil police to the armed police;

(ii) Foot police constables may be transferred to the mounted police at their own request;

(iii) A civil police constable with more than two years' service but less than ten years' service may be transferred to the armed police and vice versa by the Superintendent of Police for a period not exceeding six months in one year;

(iv) Armed police constables with over two years' service may be transferred to the other branch of the force with the permission of the Deputy Inspector General;

(v) Civil police constables of over two years' service and under 10 years' service may be transferred to the other branch of the force with the permission of the Deputy Inspector General; and

(vi) In all other cases transfers of police officers from one branch of the force to another or from the police service of other provinces to the Uttar Pradesh Police requires the sanction of the Inspector General.

4. The petitioners before the Court are constables of the civil police who have put in more than 10 years of service. The orders which they have challenged are orders of transfer from the civil police to the government railway police. Hence, the first question which has been framed for the decision of the Full Bench arises from the submission of the petitioners that constables of the civil police who have put in more than ten years' service cannot be transferred to the government railway police.

5. The first paragraph of Regulation 525, inter alia, stipulates conditions of transfer of constables from the civil police to the armed police and vice versa in a situation where they have put in varying period of service, these being (i) service of not less than two years; (ii) service of more than two years but less than ten years. Where a constable has put in less than two years of service, Regulation 525 enables his transfer from the civil police to the armed police or vice versa, the condition being that the transfer has to be by the Superintendent of Police. Where a ci