The Appellant challenged a transfer order to a substantive post of Principal. The Division Bench held that posting officers is a prerogative of the State Government to ensure administration does not suffer and dismissed the writ appeal against the transfer.
The Writ Appeal was dismissed; no order as to costs.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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(W. A. No. 183 of 2022)
NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR
WRIT APPEAL NO.183 OF 2022
(Arising out of Order dated 7.3.2022 passed in W.P.(S) No.1448 of 2022)
1. Krishna Ram Kowachi S/o Late Shri Bel Singh Kowachi, aged about 57 Years, Block Education Officer, Chhuriya District Rajnandgaon (C.G.)
... Appellant(s)
Versus
1. State Of Chhattisgarh, through: the Secretary, School Education Department, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Naya Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.)
2. The Director, Public Instructions Directorate of Public Instructions, Sector 19, Kotrabhanta, Atal Nagar, Naya Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.)
3. The District Education Officer, Rajnandgaon, District Rajnandgaon (C.G.)
4. Shri Lalji Dwivedi, S/o Shri H.N. Dwivedi, aged about 57 years, Block Education Officer, Chhuriya, District Rajnandgaon (C.G.)
... Respondent(s)
| For Appellant | :- | Mr. Vinod Deshmukh |
|---|---|---|
| and Mr. Vivek Kumar Shrivastava,Advocates. |
||
| For Respondents | :- | Mr. Arvind Dubey, |
| 1 to 3/State | Govt. Advocate. | |
| For Respondent 4 | :- | None appears. |
| For Intervener | :- | Mr. Achyut Tiwari, Advocate. |
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(W. A. No. 183 of 2022)
Division Bench
Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay Agrawal
Judgment on Board [21.06.2024]
Sanjay K. Agrawal, J.
1. This Writ Appeal is directed against the
Order dated 7.3.2022 passed in W.P.(S) No.1448/2022 whereby dismissing the said writ petition, learned Single Judge has affirmed the order of transfer dated
8.2.2022 by which the Appellant stood transferred as Principal, Government Higher Secondary School, Kanwar, Block Gurur, District Balod.
2. Learned Counsel appearing for the Appellant submits that the impugned Order passed by learned Single Judge deserves to be setaside, as the earlier transfer order dated 27.7.2021 by which the Appellant was transferred as Block Education Officer, Chhuriya, District Rajnandgaon has been modified and the executed order of transfer
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(W. A. No. 183 of 2022)
could not have been revoked by the State Government and therefore, the impugned order of transfer dated 8.2.2022 also deserves to be set aside.
3. Per contra, learned Government Advocate appearing for Respondent-State submits that on the basis of administrative exigency, the Appellant was transferred to a substantive post of Principal of a Higher Secondary School and therefore the impugned order of transfer has rightly been issued and the present Writ Appeal as such deserves to be dismissed.
4. We have heard learned counsel for parties, considered their rival submissions made herein-above and also gone through the record with utmost circumspection.
5. By transfer order dated 27.7.2021, the
Appellant was transferred as Block Education Officer from Block Bagbahra, District Mahasamund to Block Chhuriya, District
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(W. A. No. 183 of 2022)
Rajnandgaon where, on the date of transfer, Respondent No.4 – Lalji Dwivedi was already working as Block Education Officer and he was not transferred/shifted to any other place. Therefore, Respondent No.4 – Lalji Dwivedi preferred a Writ Petition being W.P. (S) No.4255/2021 which was disposed of by Order dated 16.8.2021 granting status-quo in his favour. Against the said Order dated 16.8.2021, the Appellant filed an appeal (W.A. No.22/2022). During pendency of the said writ appeal, as per interim order dated 3.2.2022, the State Government issued the
impugned order of transfer dated 8.2.2022 transferring the Appellant from the post of Block Education Officer, Chhuriya, District Rajnandgaon to the post of Principal, Government Higher Secondary School, Kanwar, Block Gurur, District Balod. In that view of the matter, by Order dated 16.2.2022, the aforesaid Writ Appeal was disposed of with a liberty to the parties to assail the order
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(W. A. No. 183 of 2022)
dated 8.2.2022, if they so want. Assailing the said order of transfer dated 8.2.2022, the Appellant went into filing a writ petition (W.P.S. No.1448/2022) which has been dismissed by learned Single Judge by Order dated 7.3.2022 which is impugned in the present Writ Appeal.
6. From the aforesaid factual scenario, it is quite apparent that by order of transfer dated 8.2.2022, the Appellant has been transferred from the post of Block Education Officer, Chhuriya, District Rajnandgaon to the post of Principal at Government Higher Secondary School, Kanwar, Block Gurur, District Balod. The post of Principal is a substantive post, which the Appellant is holding. Since in the Writ Petition filed by Respondent No.4 – Lalji Dwivedi, the order of status-quo was passed in his favour, the State Government, in order to ensure that
the work of their institutions should not suffer, decided to post the Appellant as
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(W. A. No. 183 of 2022)
Principal of a Government Higher Secondary School at Balod, which is a substantive post he is holding, and decided to continue the Respondent No.4 where he was already working.
7. It is pure prerogative of the employer/State Government to post the officers/employees to such place where their services are required, so that the administration may not suffer. Finding that, the Appellant has been transferred by the State Government as Principal of a Government Higher Secondary School by order dated 8.2.2022 which the learned Single Judge has rightly declined to interfere with and dismissed the writ petition of the Appellant by impugned Order dated dated 7.3.2022 affirming the said order of transfer.
8. Thus, for the foregoing reasons, we do not find any error or illegality in the impugned
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(W. A. No. 183 of 2022)
order passed by learned Single warranting our interference, which we hereby affirm.
9. The Writ Appeal, accordingly, stands
dismissed. No order as to cost(s).
Sd/- Sd/- (Sanjay K. Agrawal) (Sanjay Agrawal) sharad Judge Judge
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the High Court should interfere with the State Government's order transferring an Officer to a substantive post of Principal due to administrative exigency.
Krishna Ram Kowachi
State Of Chhattisgarh
The Director, Public Instructions Directorate
The District Education Officer, Rajnandgaon
Lalji Dwivedi
Sanjay K. Agrawal
Sanjay Agrawal
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
