Judicial review in transfer matters is limited to examining mala fides, statutory violation, or patent arbitrariness; an employee cannot claim posting at a particular place as a matter of right.

JUDGMENT

ANIL KSHETARPAL, J.:

1. The present Petition, filed by the Petitioner, assails the correctness of the order dated 17.09.2025 [hereinafter referred to as ‘Impugned Order’] passed by learned Central Administrative Tribunal [hereinafter referred to as ‘Tribunal’] in O.A. No.4052/2024, whereby the Original Application (‘O.A.’) preferred by the Petitioner came to be dismissed.

2. The issue which arises for consideration in the present Petition is whether the Impugned Order passed by the Tribunal, declining to interfere with the transfer of the Petitioner from Delhi to Babugarh Cantt., Agra Region, suffers from any illegality, perversity, or failure to exercise jurisdiction, particularly in the context of the Petitioner’s claim for reasonable accommodation on medical grounds, so as to warrant interference by this Court in exercise of its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

FACTUAL MATRIX:

3. In order to appreciate the controversy involved in the present Petition, the relevant facts, in brief, are required to be noticed.

4. The Petitioner was appointed as a Primary Teacher (PRT) with the Respondent-Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan on 12.02.2009 and has been serving in the said capacity since then. In the year 2022, while the Petitioner was posted at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sainik Vihar, New Delhi, she was transferred to Kendriya Vidyalaya, Karaikal, Pondicherry vide order dated 16.09.2022, as part of an exercise of rationalization and redistribution of teaching staff across Kendriya Vidyalayas.

5. Aggrieved by the aforesaid transfer, the Petitioner, along with other similarly situated employees, approached the Tribunal by filing O.A. No. 2789/2022. The said Original Application was disposed of by the Tribunal vide order dated 27.09.2022, whereby the Petitioners therein were permitted to submit representations, and the Respondents were directed to consider the same by passing reasoned and speaking orders in accordance with the applicable transfer policy.

6. It is not in dispute that the issue relating to transfers effected in September, 2022 travelled up to the Supreme Court in SLP (C) No. 24825/2023, wherein, by order dated 19.03.2024, the Respondent- Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan was permitted to undertake a fresh exercise by inviting options from the affected teachers for their posting, in terms of a proposed process placed before the Supreme Court.

7. Pursuant to the aforesaid order, the Respondents invited options from the concerned employees, and the Petitioner submitted her three preferred stations, namely Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida. It is the stand of the Respondents that the Petitioner could not be accommodated at the aforesaid stations on account of non-availability of vacancies.

8. Thereafter, the Petitioner came to be transferred to Kendriya Vidyalaya, Babugarh Cantt., Agra Region vide the transfer order dated 01.06.2024. The Petitioner, aggrieved by her transfer, submitted a representation dated 10.06.2024, followed by an email dated 16.07.2024, inter alia, seeking modification of her transfer on the ground that she is suffering from Bipolar Affective Disorder and requires continued medical treatment and family support.

9. In the interregnum, the Petitioner had also approached the T