Central Administrative Tribunal - Delhi
Sarita Yadav vs Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghthan on 5 July, 2022
Item 1
Central Administrative Tribunal
Principal Bench, New Delhi
O.A. No.2313/2021
This the 5th day of July, 2022
Hon'ble Mr. R.N. Singh, Member (J)
Hon'ble Mr. Tarun Shridhar, Member (A)
Smt. Sarita Yadav
Aged -46 years
D/o Sh. Jagdish Prasad Yadav
Working as PGT (Chemistry) in KVS
Presently r/o H. No.19, GMC, Gota Nagar
Guwahati. ...Applicant
(By Advocate: Mr. Yogesh Sharma)
Vs.
1. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan
Through the Commissioner
18, Institutional Area
Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, New Delhi.
2. The Assistant Commissioner (Estt.)
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan
18, Institutional Area
Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, New Delhi.
....Respondents
(By Advocate: Mr. S. Rajappa)
2
O.A. No.2313/2021
ORDER (ORAL)
Hon'ble Mr. Tarun Shridhar, Member (A):
The applicant is aggrieved that in spite of specific provisions in the guidelines governing transfer of the teachers in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, she has not been accorded the weightage as prescribed for single parent. For the sake of clarity, the relief as sought by the applicant is reproduced under:-
"(i) That the Hon'ble Tribunal may graciously be pleased to pass an order of quashing the impugned order dated 8.10.2021 by which final displacement/transfer points have been published (only in respect of applicant) (Annexure A/1) and provisional displacemen/transfer points list (inrespect of applicant only) (Annexure A/2) and consequently, pass an order directing the respondents to count +52 transfer count of the applicant by treating the applicant as a single parent on the basis of transfer guidelines and consequently, consider the applicant for her transfer to her choice station (Options) or nearby stations of choice stations as per transfer guidelines with all the consequently benefits.
(ii) Any other relief which the Hon'ble Tribunal deem fit and proper may also be granted to the applicants along with the costs of litigation."
2. Brief facts of the case are that the applicant, who is working as Post Graduate Teacher (Chemistry), was transferred to Kendriya Vidyalaya, Maligaon, which is in the North East Region and is categorised as a hard station. 3 O.A. No.2313/2021 However, subsequently on her request, the transfer order was modified and she was posted at Kendriya Vidhyalaya, Guwahati within the North East Region, again belonging to the category of hard station.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant points out that in accordance with the requirement of submitting an application each year for transfer, the applicant had made a similar application and being a single parent, she was to be awarded 50 points for the purpose of calculation of her merit-cum-eligibility for transfer to her choice station. Para 10 of the transfer guidelines, 2021 provides for 50 points to be awarded to a KVS employees, who is defined as a single parent. The definition of single parent, as elaborated in the said guidelines, reads as under :-
"14. Single Parent (SP) - A KVS employee who has lost his/her spouse or separated by a Court of Law or attained parenthood through the surrogacy route/legal adoption."
4. It is not in dispute that the present applicant is a divorcee, who has obtained divorce/legal separation from her husband by way of a decree of the appropriate court. 4 O.A. No.2313/2021
5. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the only daughter born out of the wedlock is under the sole custody of the applicant and hence, being a single parent, she is deserving of being awarded 50 points which would entitle her to seek transfer to her choice station in accordance with the provisions of the transfer guidelines. To further substantiate her claim, he also draws our attention to the document placed on record, which is an affidavit from the husband of the applicant stating therein that their daughter is under the custody and care of her mother i.e. the present applicant. Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the applicant, in the past, has served in hard areas on two different occasions.
6. Learned counsel submits that the facts, which are not in dispute, abundantly establish the claim of the applicant to be awarded 50 points in accordance with the Policy and consideration of her request for transfer to a station of her choice or, in the alternative, to a station nearby the station of her choice.
7. Learned counsel for the respondents, on the other hand, contests the arguments submitting that he has 5 O.A. No.2313/2021 brought out abundantly clear in his counter affidavit that even if the applicant was to be awarded the weightage of 50 points as set out in the Policy, she would still not be eligible to be considered for transfer as she has not completed the mandatory tenure of three years in the present place of posting as of 30.06.2021.
8. He further points out that even on date she does not complete three years and she would be eligible after completion of a tenure in the month of June, 2023.
9. Learned counsel draws attention to the document he has placed on record, which is a letter dated 24.01.2022 wherein the Assistant Commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya has given instructions to the learned counsel stating therein that the applicant was obliged to submit supporting documents to claim the benefit of 50 points to the Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya and it was on account of her inability to produce the relevant evidence/proof in support of her single parent status that50 points could not be awarded in her favour. Moreover, he reiterates that even if the benefit of 50 points, being a single parent, were awarded, the applicant still does not fulfil the 6 O.A. No.2313/2021 eligibility to be considered for transfer on her request as she would be short of the requisite tenure.
10. We have heard the learned counsels for the parties at great length and also meticulously gone through the documents on record.
11. The basic facts of the case are not in dispute. There are guidelines governing the transfer of Teachers in KVS and these guidelines contain a category of "single parent". The same has been defined in the preceding paragraphs. The guidelines also contain the provision for assigning weightage point on different criteria, one of them being "single parent".
12. Being a single parent, an employee would be entitled to be awarded 50 points. That the present applicant is a single parent has been conclusively established. The limited issue raised by the learned counsel for respondents is that since she has not been able to establish that her child is living with her and is dependent upon her, she cannot claim the benefit of these 50 points. However, there is nothing in the guidelines which clarifies as to how 7 O.A. No.2313/2021 an employee has to establish the fact of the child living with such an employee. Moreover, the definition of single parent is clear and we have no doubt in our mind that the applicant qualifies to be considered as a single parent in accordance with this definition. Moreover, we are not convinced that any separate document is to be produced in order to establish that the child is living with her mother. Further, in the case of transfer on request, the guidelines are ambiguous whether the tenure of three years is applicable or not. The guidelines through containing a provision that an employee will be considered for request transfer after a lapse of three years but there is a stipulation that this tenure of three years is applicable only if an employee is already posted in a station of his/her choice. This not being the case in the instant matter, we are not convinced that the applicant is not eligible for the benefit of 50 points being a single parent.
13. In view of the situation detailed above, we are of the considered view that the applicant deserves to be given the benefit of 52 factor points for consideration of her request for transfer in accordance with the Transfer Guidelines, 2021. Accordingly, the competent authority 8 O.A. No.2313/2021 amongst the respondents is directed to consider the application of the applicant by according her the status of the single parent and resultantly awarding her the marks as provided in the transfer guidelines and subsequently consider her request for transfer, subject to her fulfilling the other criteria of eligibility set up in the guidelines. Competent authority shall give effect to these directions by way of passing a reasoned and speaking order within a period of four weeks from the date of the order. The OA stands disposed of in the light of the aforesaid directions.
(Tarun Shridhar) (R.N. Singh )
Member (A) Member (J)
uma/sb