Order on Board

[09/03/2022]

1. The instant Writ Petition has been filed by Petitioner assailing the Order dated 5.7.2021 (Annexure P-1) and 16.11.2021 (Annexure P-10).

2. Vide Order dated 5.7.2021, the Petitioner was transferred from Nagar Panchayat, Bishrampur to Nagar Panchayat Ramanujganj.

3. Present is a second round of litigation. The earlier round of litigation was WPS No.3894/2021 which stood disposed of by this Court’s Order dated 28.7.2021 with the following observations:-

“3. Given the entire facts and circumstances of the case, particularly the grounds which the petitioner has raised and also taking note of the fact that the petitioner has got only around less than two years of service left for retirement, let the petitioner make a suitable representation to the respondents within a period of 10 days from today and the respondent authorities thereafter shall consider and decide the representation on its own merits in accordance with law within a further period of three weeks. Meanwhile, purely as an interim measure till the representation of petitioner is decided or for a period of three weeks, whichever is earlier, if the petitioner has not been relieved from his post till date, let status quo as it exists today be maintained by the parties so far as posting of the petitioner is concerned.”

4. Pursuant to the disposal of the aforesaid Writ Petition, the Respondents have decided the representation which the Petitioner had filed by rejecting the same vide Order dated 16.11.2021, which has lead to the filing of the subsequent Writ Petition i.e. the present one.

5. Against the rejection of the said representation by the Respondents vide Order dated 16.11.2021, the Petitioner has again preferred a representation on 3.1.2022.

6. There are primarily two contentions which the Petitioner has raised. One is the fact that the Petitioner has got just around twenty months of service left for his superannuation and therefore he may be considered to be posted somewhere near Bilaspur so that he could attend to his ailing mother. The second ground is that since after the disposal of the earlier Writ Petition on 28.7.2021 the Petitioner has given his joining at his earlier place of posting in Bishrampur on 5.8.2021, now after the rejection of the representation of the Petitioner, the Respondents may issue a fresh relieving order from Bishrampur.

7. The other grievance of the Petitioner is that after having given his joining at Bishrampur on 5.8.2021, till date neither has he been relieved nor has he been paid his salary. Further contention of Petitioner is that he is the only earning member in the family and he also has the responsibility of taking care of his parents who reside in Bilaspur. Furthermore, his mother is not keeping good health for quite some time and she requires constant treatment and also needs to be frequently hospitalized in connection with her treatment. Therefore, according to Petitioner, it becomes necessary for him to be available nearby Bilaspur so that he could attend to his needs as when required and it is for this reason that he has made a request for being transferred to a place nearby Bilaspur, which has since been turned down by the Respondents.

8. According to Petitioner, in spite of his repeated representation being made, the Respondents have not considered his claim and for all these reason also appropriate direction needs to be given to the Respondents calling for reconsideration of their decision so far as posting the Petitioner to Ramanujganj from Bishrampur is concerned, particularly at the fag-end of his service career.

9. Opposing the Petition, learned Counsels for Respondents submit that it is a case where the High Court itself at the first instance had not granted the Petitioner any substantial relief except for making a representation and the Petitioner was given an interim protection to the extent of status-quo to be maintained, that is, if the Petitioner has not been relieved from his post till 28.