CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL CHENNAI BENCH Dated this the 6^th day of January, Two Thousand Twenty Six CORAM :

HON'BLE MR M. SWAMINATHAN, JUDICIAL MEMBER S. Vignesh, S/o V. Selvaraj, Junior Engineer (Civil)

Arakkonam section, CSIF Campus, Chennai IV Division, CPWD, Chennai. .. Applicant By Advocate M/s. Menon, Karthik, Mukundan & Neelakantan Vs.

1. Union of India Through Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi.

2. Director General, Central Public Works Department, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi.

3. Chief Engineer (E & M) – CEEM CPWD Chennai Region, O/o Special Director General (SR), Central Public Works Department, Rajaji Bhawan, Chennai.

4. D. Vijayakumar, Junior Engineer (Civil) -1, PAMANJI, Vakadu Mandal, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. .. Respondents By Advocate Mr. M. Kishore Kumar, SPC

ORAL ORDER

(Pronounced by Hon'ble Mr. M. Swaminathan, Judicial Member)

This OA has been filed by the applicant seeking the following relief:

“To set aside office order No.95/2025, dated nd

08.12.2025 issued by the 2 respondent rd communicated by the 3 respondent and consequently direct the respondents to recompute the merit points by giving weightage to ‘working spouse’ category as per DoPT OM dated 24.11.2002 and on that basis effect postings and pass such further or other orders as may be deemed fit and proper”

2. Brief facts of the case as submitted by the applicant are as follows:

The applicant, a Junior Engineer (Civil) posted at Arakkonam under the Chennai-IV Division, was promoted to the post of Assistant Engineer vide order dated 02.12.2025. Pursuant to his promotion, his posting was determined through the newly introduced online transfer mechanism notified vide O.M. dated 14.11.2025. The said policy, applicable to Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ employees, provides for allocation of merit points under various heads such as age, gender, family circumstances, and working spouse, and postings are effected based on the cumulative merit points and preferences exercised. In accordance with the policy, the applicant submitted his preferences against 14 declared vacancies. The applicant’s wife is employed as a Vocational Counsellor at Vellore Government Medical College under the Government of Tamil Nadu and is presently in her second pregnancy. Considering his family circumstances, the applicant requested that he may not be posted outside the State and that his case be considered within the Southern Region. Out of the 14 vacancies, only two were located in Tamil Nadu, namely Villupuram and Chennai. Since Arakkonam is treated as part of Chennai-IV Division, the only viable option available to the applicant was Villupuram, which he selected as his first preference, being the nearest station to Vellore. Under the transfer policy, 10 merit points are prescribed for the ‘working spouse’ category. However, the applicant was denied these points on the ground that no CPWD station exists at Vellore. Had these points been awarded, the applicant would have secured a higher rank among promotees and would have been entitled to his first preference posting at Villupuram. Instead, he was placed lower in the merit list and allotted Raichur, Karnataka, which was one of his least preferred stations. The transfer order dated 08.12.2025 directed immediate relieving of officers. The applicant submitted a detailed representation seeking modification of the order by applying the ‘working spouse’ clause and accommodating him at his preferred station. Though the representation was recommended by the controlling cadre, instructions from headquarters required implementation of the posting notwithstanding the pending representation. Aggrieved thereby, the applicant has approached this Tribunal, contending that the impugned order is arbitrary, violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, contrary to DoPT instructions dated 24.11.2002, and causes grave hardship to his family.

3. The learned counsel for the applicant contended that as per the DoPT O.M., dated