IMPORTANT POINT
IMPORTANT POINT
The court ruled that new transfer guidelines do not provide exemptions for office bearers of recognized associations, and without challenging these guidelines, no benefits from previous orders can be claimed.

ORDER :

1. Since the lis in both these writ petitions is one and the same, they are heard together and are being disposed of by way of this common order.

2. Aggrieved by the action of the respondents in not considering the case of the petitioners, who are office bearers of the Government Junior Lecturers’ Association, Telangana and the Telangana Government College Teachers’ Association, respectively, for continuing them in their respective places of work, the present writ petitions are filed.

3. Heard Sri M. Surender Rao, learned Senior Counsel, representing Sri Srinivasa Rao Madiraju, learned counsel for the petitioners in both these writ petitions, and Sri S. Rahul Reddy, learned Special Government Pleader, representing the learned Additional Advocate General, on behalf of the respondents.

4. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are office bearers of their respective employees’ associations, viz. the Government Junior Lecturers’ Association, Telangana, and the Telangana Government College Teachers’ Association, and that these associations are recognized the government of former State of Andhra Pradesh. As such, the government provided the office bearers certain privileges, particularly, the facility of exemption from transfers from districts, divisions, taluks or headquarters. The said facility was available to all the office bearers not restricting them to the Presidents and Secretary, but the same is limited for a continuous period of six years only. It is further submitted that after formation of the State of Telangana in terms of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014, the Government of Telangana issued G.O.Rt. No. 515 dated 16.03.2018, according the Other Duty facility to the Presidents and Secretaries of eleven service associations operating in this State. While so, in the year 2018, the Government lifted ban on transfers and issued transfer guidelines vide G.O.Ms. No. 61 dated 24.05.2018. Further, the Government has issued G.O.Rt. No. 116 dated 06.06.2018 framing certain guidelines for transfer of lecturers working in the Intermediate Education Department, and specific benefit of retention was provided to the office bearers of recognized employees’ unions, under Paragraph 9(c) of the said guidelines.

5. It is further submitted that in the above circumstances, some of the office bearers of the associations, for whom the benefit of stay has not been granted, approached this Court and filed W.P. Nos. 21502, 21573 and 21574 of 2018, and this Court was pleaded to grant interim orders in I.A. No. 1 of 2018 in the said writ petitions on 26.06.2018 directing the respondents to apply the benefit of paragraph 9(c) of the guidelines in the impending transfer counseling exercise treating them as representatives of the Government Junior Lecturers’ Association, Telangana, and the petitioners are continuing in their respective places of work by virtue of the said order. While the matter stood thus, the Government has issued G.O.Ms. No. 80 dated 03.07.2024 lifting the ban on transfer of employees working in the State Government, and in terms of the said G.O., the Department of Higher Education issued G.O.Rt. No. 118 dated 15.07.2024 framing certain guidelines for transfer of employees working in Collegiate Education, Technical Education and Intermediate Education Departments. In the said G.O., specific priority category is given to the office bearers of employees’ unions, recognized by the Government, under paragraph 6(c), which categorically stated that the instructions issued in Circular Memo No. 20914/SW-1/ A2/2012-1 dated 26.06.2012 read with Circular Memo No. 20914/SW-1/A2/2012-2 dated 30.06.2012 shall be followed scrupulously.

6. It is further submitted that the petitioners’ associations were officially recognized way back in 1981 and 1996 respectively vide G.O.Ms. No. 624, General Administration Department, dated 01.12.1981 and G.O.Ms. No. 3, Higher Education (VC.I) Department, dated 03.01.199