Employees with prior hard station tenure exempt from repeat transfer under age-40 policy clause; judicial intervention justified for automated transfers ignoring verified service history and policy norms (38 words).

Order

The instant original application has been filed seeking following reliefs: -

“(a) quash and set aside the two impugned transfer orders, both dated 25.06.2024, passed in respect of the applicant and Respondent 5 (Annexure Nos. A-1 and A-2 to Compilation No. 1, respectively),

(b) Issue such other suitable orders or directions as might be found just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case.

(c) Award the costs of this Original Application in favour of the applicant, throughout.”

2. The brief facts of the case are that the applicant joined the service under the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) at KV Pachmarhi on 30.03.2015 as a Lower Division Clerk (LDC), a position now re-designated as Junior Secretariat Assistant (JSA). KV Pachmarhi is listed as a "hard station" by the KVS for transfer and posting purposes. Upon the applicant’s request, he was transferred from KV Pachmarhi to KV Manauri, Allahabad (now Prayagraj), through a transfer order dated 27.09.2017. He subsequently joined KV Manauri on 09.10.2017. The applicant's request, another intra-station transfer order was issued on 09.10.2021, transferring him from KV Manauri to KV New Cantt.- II^nd Shift, Prayagraj. He was relieved from KV Manauri on 21.10.2021 and directed to report to the Principal of KV New Cantt.-II^nd Shift, Prayagraj. The KVS transfers and postings are governed by a comprehensive transfer policy, which is revised and updated periodically. The current transfer policy for teaching and non-teaching staff, as per the notification dated 30.06.2023, includes the concepts of "transfer count" and "displacement count" to determine eligibility for transfer. Under the impugned transfer order dated 25.06.2024, the applicant was transferred under the clause "Transfer due to organizational requirement" and specifically under clause (B) of Part-I-A of the policy, i.e., Transfer (40) to hard, priority, and North Eastern Region (NER) stations. Clause Transfer (40) states that male employees below the age of 40 who have not served a tenure in a hard station, NER, or priority station shall be transferred to fill vacancies in such stations. This transfer is based on the displacement count and is carried out during the annual transfer process. Employees who have completed their tenure at the present posting by 30th June of the transfer year are considered under this provision.

3. The applicant contends that he has already fulfilled the requirement of serving at a hard station by completing a tenure at KV Pachmarhi at the start of his career. Therefore, he argues that he should not have been considered again for transfer under Transfer (40) to another hard, priority, or NER station. Under the KVS transfer policy, all employees are required to fill out an online form to create a database for annual transfers, and the responsibility of verification and submission rests with the controlling officer, the Principal in this case. For the 2024 annual general transfer, the applicant’s basic profile was collected online in March 2024. The applicant filled out the prescribed transfer application form online on 14.06.2024, correctly marking "Yes" in the column indicating whether he had completed one tenure at a hard/NER station. Although the applicant does not have a copy of this form, it is available in the KVS database. On 16.06.2024, KVS issued a notification to its regional offices, stating that employees could review or revise their transf