Allahabad High Court
Brijesh Kumar vs U.O.I. Thru Secy. To Railway And Ors. on 14 July, 2021
Author: Chandra Dhari Singh
Bench: Chandra Dhari Singh
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH ?Court No. - 19 Case :- SERVICE SINGLE No. - 14550 of 2021 Petitioner :- Brijesh Kumar Respondent :- U.O.I. Thru Secy. To Railway And Ors. Counsel for Petitioner :- Vijay Kumar Asthana,Rahul Pandey Counsel for Respondent :- Shiv P. Shukla Hon'ble Chandra Dhari Singh,J.
The petition seeks issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari quashing order dated 15.04.2021 passed by respondent no.3 i.e. Director General, Railway Protection Force, Railway Board, New Delhi, which is appended with the petition as Annexure - 1.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner who is working on the post of Constable is posted at Railway Protection Force at Mumbai. It is submitted that the petitioner applied for transfer from Mumbai to Gorakhpur under the Child Care Giver Scheme as per the RPF Establishment Mannual, 2019 as his five years' old daughter is ill. It is also submitted that on earlier occasion, the petitioner moved a representation. When nothing was done on the said representation, he filed a petition bearing Writ Petition No.3095 (SS) of 2021 titled 'Brijesh Kumar v. Union of India & Ors,' and the same was disposed of vide order dated 03.02.2021 with a direction to the competent authority to consider and decide the said representation in accordance with law by way of passing a reasoned and speaking order within a period of three months from the date a certified copy of that order is placed before him.
Learned counsel has submitted that vide impugned order dated 15.04.2021 (supra), his representation has been rejected without taking into consideration the grievance and relevant scheme of RPF Establishment Mannual, 2019. He has submitted that the impugned order is illegal, arbitrary and has been passed in a mechanical way, and deserves to be quashed.
On a query of the Court, learned counsel has informed the Court that petitioner's wife is also residing with five years old daughter.
Shri Shiv P. Shukla, learned counsel appearing for the respondents has vehemently opposed the submissions made by petitioner's counsel and submitted that the instant petition is nothing but gross misuse of process of law. It is submitted that the petitioner is posted at a better place where medical facility of any disease is available better than Gorakhpur. Shri Shukla has further submitted that it is an admitted fact that the petitioner's daughter is living with her mother.
Shri Shukla has further submitted that while passing the impugned order, the concerned authority has taken into consideration all the facts and applicable rules. There is no illegality in the impugned order.
I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
Vide impugned order dated 15.04.2021 (supra), the following reasons have been assigned by the competent authoirty while rejecting the representation:
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2. As per order of Hon'ble High Court, the petitioner (Sh. Brijesh Kumar) submitted his representation dated 12.02.2021. The undersigned has carefully gone through Hon'ble High Court's order as mentioned above and the representation of the petitioner.
It is observed that Sh. Brijesh Kumar, CT/CR has sought Inter-Railway transfer from Central Railway to North Eastern Railway on the ground of being 'Care Giver to 'Specially abled child, thereby quoting that his daughter is suffering from Asthma/Allergy. With respect to above, it is to be mentioned that Asthma/Allergy does not find mention in the category of disability which requires 'Care Giver' as specified in Para No 3.2 (V) of Chapter IV of RPF Establishment Manual-2019 read with DoPT's L.N. 42011/3/2014-Estt (Res.) dated 08.10.2018. This point also reiterated earlier in L.No. E(NG)1/2014/TR/12 dated 01.08.2014 issued by Establishment Directorate/Railway Board, wherein, disability specifically includes Blindness/ Low Vision, Hearing Impairment/Loco Motor Disability/Cerebral Palsy, Leprosy cured, Mental Illness & Multiple Disabilities. On the basis of above, the plea of Sh. Brijesh Kumar, CT seeking transfer as care giver does not merit any consideration as Asthma/Allergy does not find mention in the various categories of Disabilities requiring Care Giver.
3. Hence, on the above ground, the petitioner (Brijesh Kumar) is not eligible for inter-zonal Transfer from Central Railway to North Eastern Railway and his representation is hereby rejected and the same is disposed off.
4. The petitioner may be informed accordingly."
After perusal of the impugned order dated 15.04.2021 (supra) as challenged by learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the contentions made in the writ petition, I do not find any illegality or arbitrariness in the impugned order. From perusal of the impugned order it is apparent that while rejecting the representation of the petitioner, the concerned authority has taken into consideration all the relevant facts and applicable rules circumspectly. Perusal of the impugned order also reveals that the petitioner is seeking transfer on the ground of being 'Care Giver' to 'Specially abled child' as his daughter is suffering from Asthma/Allergy, which does not find mention in the category of disability which requires 'Care Giver' as per RPF Establishment Mannual, 2019. It is also relevant to note that petitioner's wife is also residing with the five years old daughter.
It is settled law that it is entirely upon the competent authority to decide when, where and at what point of time an employee is to be transferred from his/her present posting. The employee does not have any vested right to be posted at a particular place.
In view of the above, the instant petition is dismissed.
Order Date :- 14.7.2021 nishant/-