IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ALEXANDER THOMAS &

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. BADHARUDEEN FRIDAY, THE 3^RD DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2021 / 12TH BHADRA, 1943 OP(KAT) NO. 236 OF 2021 AGAINST THE ORDER DATED 17.08.2021 IN OA 1384/2021 OF KERALAADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL BENCH, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM PETITIONER/PETITIONER:

ANILKUMAR S.B AGED 48 YEARS S/O. P.BABU, WORKING AS LABORER, SEASONED LABOUR ROLL, DIRECTORATE OF GROUND WATER DEPARTMENT, AMBALAMUKKU, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM -

695005, (UNDER THE ORDERS OF TRANSFER TO GROUND WATER OFFICE, DISTRICT OFFICE, KOLLAM - 691001) RESIDING AT MELEVILA VEEDU, MANNANTHALA, NALANCHIRA (PO)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM – 695 015.

BY ADVS.

M.V.THAMBAN R.REJI THARA THAMBAN B.BIPIN ARUN BOSE N.SUNIL JOSEPH RESPONDENTS/RESPONDENTS IN O.A

1 STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - 695001., KERALA.

2 DIRECTOR, DIRECTORATE OF GROUND WATER DEPARTMENT, AMBALAMUKKU, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM -

695005, KERALA.

SRI.B.UNNIKRISHNA KAIMAL,SR.GOVERNMENT PLEADER THIS OP KERALA ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 03.09.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

ALEXANDER THOMAS & A. BADHARUDEEN, JJ.

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O.P(KAT) No.236 of 2021 (arising out of the order dated 17.08.2021 in O.A No.1384/2021)

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Dated this the 3^rd day of September, 2021

JUDGMENT

ALEXANDER THOMAS, J.

Aggrieved by the impugned Annexure A2 transfer order dated 15.07.2021 whereby the 2^nd respondent Director of Ground Water Department has ordered to transfer and post the petitioner, who is an SLR Driver, from his station at the Directorate at Thiruvananthapuram to the District Office at Kollam, the petitioner herein had approached the Tribunal by filing the instant Ext.P1 O.A.No.1384/2021 before the Kerala Administrative Tribunal, Thiruvananthapuram. The Tribunal after hearing both sides rendered order impugned Ext.P6 order dated 17.08.2021 dismissing the O.A on the ground that there are no vacancies as at present to accommodate the petitioner at Thiruvananthapuram and therefore the impugned transfer order to the extent it has been ordered to transfer the petitioner to District Office at Kollam cannot be interdicted. It is this final order at Ext.P6 that is under challenge in the present O.P before us, filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India.

2. Heard Sri M.V.Thamban, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner herein/sole applicant in the O.A before the Tribunal and Sri. B.Unnikrishna Kaimal, the learned Senior Government Pleader appearing for the respondents in the O.P/respondents in the O.A.

3. According to the petitioner, he has been appointed as a Seasonal Labour Roll (SLR) worker in the Ground Water Department and he has been engaged as a Driver in the offices of the department at Thiruvananthapuram. As stated herein above, the petitioner is mainly aggrieved by the impugned Annexure A2 transfer order dated 15.07.2021, whereby the Director of Ground Water Department has ordered that the petitioner, who had been then working as SLR Driver in the Directorate at Thiruvananthapuram, has been ordered to be transferred and posted to the district office at Kollam. The petitioner would strongly and vehemently contend that even in the case of posts like Lower Division Clerks, the last grade servants etc., which are class 3 and class 4 posts, where the unit of appointment is district wise and not State wise, then ordinarily the incumbent concerned is not transferred out of the district; that the said position is also reflected in the norms for transfer issued by the competent authority of the State Government and that the said norms would apply with equal vigour and force in the case of incumbent like the petitioner, who is working as Seasonal Labour Roll (SLR) Worker/ Driver. Further the learned counsel for the petitioner has made reference to the transfer guidelines