Central Administrative Tribunal - Srinagar
Zahida Heena vs Education on 27 February, 2026
[1] O.A. No. 150 of 2026
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
SRINAGAR BENCH, SRINAGAR
O.A. NO.: 150 OF 2026
(Srinagar, 27th day of February 2026)
CORAM
HON'BLE MR. M.S. LATIF, MEMBER (JUDL.)
............
1. Zahida Heena, Age 46 Years S/o Mohammad Igbal Samoon
R/o Kralpora Bandipora Pin Code: 193502
............. Applicant.
By Advocate:- Mr. Bhat Fayaz.
Versus
1. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir through
Commissioner/ Secretary to Education Department, Civil
Secretariat Srinagar/ Jammu, Pin Code: 190001;
2. Director School Education Kashmir, Srinagar, Pin Code:
ABHISHEK
Digitally signed by ABHISHEK PUNIA
DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar Bench, OU=
Department of Personnel And Training, Phone=
e5d23c236ae6dc43f6c9de959f2d4e141d6a443be8b086303b992d640e
190001;
3. Chief Education Officer, Bandipora; Pin Code: 193502
7b25a2, PostalCode=190001, S=Jammu And Kashmir,
SERIALNUMBER=
b99ea18e48351b523a3b7c01b885615e147010aed92ba1bd97898ad7f8
PUNIA
b756eb, CN=ABHISHEK PUNIA
Reason: I am the author of this document
Location:
Date: 2026.02.27 16:30:02+05'30'
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4. Deputy Chief Education Officer, Bandipora; Pin Code:
193502
5. Zonal Education Officer, Bandipora; Pin Code: 193502;
6. Zonal Education Officer, Gurez, Bandipora; Pin Code: 193503
7. Head Teachers Government Middle School Town Bandipora;
Pin Code: 193502;
........... Respondents.
By Advocate:- Mr. Satinder Singh, AAG.
ORDER
(Oral) Per Hon'ble Mr. M.S. Latif, Member (Judl.):- Through the medium [2] O.A. No. 150 of 2026 of the instant O.A., the applicant seeks following reliefs:
a. Quash and set aside the impugned order dated 23.02.2026 issued by the Deputy Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, whereby the deployment/attachment of the applicant in Zone Bandipora has been cancelled and she has been directed to report to her original place of posting in Education Zone Gurez, being illegal, arbitrary, without jurisdiction and violative of settled service norms. b. Direct the respondents to allow the applicant to continue in District Bandipora in light of her medical condition, the disability status of her husband, and the earlier orders passed by the competent authority.
c. Any other order, writ or direction may also be issued in favour of the applicant and against the respondents which this Hon'ble Tribunal deems fit and necessary in the facts and circumstances of the case.
2. What emerges from the pleadings made in the O.A. is that the applicant was appointed as a Rahbar-e-Taleem (ReT) in the respondent department and was subsequently regularized as Digitally signed by ABHISHEK PUNIA Teacher. As such, the applicant, in view of her medical ailments, ABHISHEK DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar Bench, OU= Department of Personnel And Training, Phone= e5d23c236ae6dc43f6c9de959f2d4e141d6a443be8b086303b992d640e 7b25a2, PostalCode=190001, S=Jammu And Kashmir, SERIALNUMBER= b99ea18e48351b523a3b7c01b885615e147010aed92ba1bd97898ad7f8 PUNIA b756eb, CN=ABHISHEK PUNIA Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
was working at Zone Bandipora.
Date: 2026.02.27 16:30:02+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0
3. Learned counsel for the applicant, Mr. Bhat Fayaz, submits that the Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, issued an Order dated 24.10.2026 whereby the applicant was sought to be relieved from Zone Bandipora. As such, the applicant approached the Hon'ble High Court of J&K by way of an SWP No. 1623/2016, whereby the Hon'ble High Court directed the respondents to pass appropriate orders. Complying with the directions passed by the Hon'ble High [3] O.A. No. 150 of 2026 Court, the applicant was retained at GMS Town Bandipora.
4. It is averred in the O.A. that the applicant underwent a surgical procedure in the year 2020 and doctors have advised her to avoid long distance travel, particularly moving uphill and downhill. To this effect, the applicant has placed on record a medical certificate as Annexure A-5 Page 30 of the O.A.
5. The applicant has thrown challenge to the impugned order issued by Deputy Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, dated 23.02.2026 whereby the earlier deployment of the applicant stands cancelled and she has been directed to report to her original place of posting in Education Zone Gurez. The applicant ABHISHEK Digitally signed by ABHISHEK PUNIA DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar Bench, OU= Department of Personnel And Training, Phone= e5d23c236ae6dc43f6c9de959f2d4e141d6a443be8b086303b992d640e 7b25a2, PostalCode=190001, S=Jammu And Kashmir, has challenged the impugned order on various grounds as have SERIALNUMBER= b99ea18e48351b523a3b7c01b885615e147010aed92ba1bd97898ad7f8 PUNIA b756eb, CN=ABHISHEK PUNIA Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.27 16:30:02+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 been urged in the O.A.
6. Learned counsel for the applicant, Mr. Bhat Fayaz, submits that the order impugned is passed in violation to rules and is bad in law, as the Deputy Chief Education Officer has no jurisdiction to pass such an order and as such, the order is passed by an incompetent authority.
7. Perusal of the order reveals that the same has been passed by the Deputy Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, however, after [4] O.A. No. 150 of 2026 the approval of the competent authority.
8. Law is well settled that an employee does not have a right to seek placement at a place of his/her choice and these things are left to the administrators who are at the helm of affairs to place an employee in the public and administrative interest and Courts have a very limited power to interfere in the matters of transfer. At the same time, if an employee has a genuine grievance as regards his/her transfer, the employee can very well represent before the competent authority seeking the recall or reconsideration of his/her posting, and the competent authority is duty bound to dispose of the same in the given facts and ABHISHEK Digitally signed by ABHISHEK PUNIA DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar Bench, OU= Department of Personnel And Training, Phone= e5d23c236ae6dc43f6c9de959f2d4e141d6a443be8b086303b992d640e 7b25a2, PostalCode=190001, S=Jammu And Kashmir, circumstances, and if it is found that the problem of the SERIALNUMBER= b99ea18e48351b523a3b7c01b885615e147010aed92ba1bd97898ad7f8 PUNIA b756eb, CN=ABHISHEK PUNIA Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.27 16:30:02+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 employee is genuine, it can be very easily considered by the competent authority. It is not for the Courts to assess the suitability or the health condition or otherwise of an employee.
9. Learned counsel for the respondents, Mr. Satinder Singh, AAG, submits that the applicant was engaged as a ReT and it is an appointment which is area specific and the concept of the scheme of the ReT was only to provide doorstep education to the students of far flung areas and if every teacher comes up or if every teacher [5] O.A. No. 150 of 2026 represents for the posting of their choice, the schools in the far flung areas will remain without teachers. Ultimately, it will tell upon the educational standard of the area. It is for this reason that the scheme was formulated
10. Transfer is an exigency of service and an employee has no right to seek his posting at a place of his choice. Who should be transferred where, is a matter for the appropriate authority to decide unless the order of transfer is vitiated by mala fides or is made in violation of any statutory provision, Courts cannot exercise their power of judicial review. To this effect, I am fortified by the catena of judgments:
Digitally signed by ABHISHEK PUNIA
1. E.P. Royappa vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (1974) 4 SCC 3;
ABHISHEK DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar Bench, OU= Department of Personnel And Training, Phone=
2. B. Varadha Rao vs. State of Karnataka, (1986) 4 SCC 131; e5d23c236ae6dc43f6c9de959f2d4e141d6a443be8b086303b992d640e 7b25a2, PostalCode=190001, S=Jammu And Kashmir, SERIALNUMBER= b99ea18e48351b523a3b7c01b885615e147010aed92ba1bd97898ad7f8 PUNIA b756eb, CN=ABHISHEK PUNIA Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
3. Union of India and others vs. H.N. Kirtania, (1989) 3 SCC 445; Date: 2026.02.27 16:30:02+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0
4. Shilpi Bose (Mrs.) and others vs. State of Bihar and others, 1991 Supp (2) SCC 659;
5. Union of India and others vs. S.L. Abbas, (1993) 4 SCC 357;
6. Chief General Manager (Telecom) N.E. Telecom Circle and another vs. Rajendra CH. Bhattacharjee and others, (1995) 2 SCC 532;
7. State of M.P. and another vs. S.S. Kourav and others, (1995) 3 SCC 270;
8. Union of India and others vs. Ganesh Dass Singh, 1995 Supp. (3) SCC 214;
9. Abani Kanta Ray vs. State of Orissa and others, 1995 Supp. (4) SCC 169;
10. National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. vs. Shri Bhagwan and Shiv Prakash, (2001) 8 SCC 574;
11. Public Services Tribunal Bar Association vs. State of U.P. and another, (2003) 4 SCC 104;
12. Union of India and others vs. Janardhan Debanath and another, (2004) 4 SCC 245;
[6] O.A. No. 150 of 202613. State of U.P. vs. Siya Ram, (2004) 7 SCC 405;
14. State of U.P. and others vs. Gobardhan Lal, (2004) 11 SCC 402;
15. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan vs. Damodar Prasad Pandey and others, (2004) 12 SCC 299;
16. Somesh Tiwari vs. Union of India and others, (2009) 2 SCC 592;
17. Union of India and others vs. Muralidhara Menon and another, (2009) 9 SCC 304;
18. Rajendra Singh and others vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others, (2009) 15 SCC 178;
19. State of Haryana and others vs. Kashmir Singh and another, (2010) 13 SCC 306 &
20. Anita Sharma vs. State of J&K 2019 Legal Eagle 489
11. Heard learned counsel for the parties.
12. At the request of learned counsel for the applicant, the O.A. is taken up for its disposal.
13. The O.A. is disposed of by providing that the respondents shall treat this O.A. as a representation. The respondent/competent authority i.e. the Director, School Digitally signed by ABHISHEK PUNIA ABHISHEK DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar Bench, OU= Department of Personnel And Training, Phone= e5d23c236ae6dc43f6c9de959f2d4e141d6a443be8b086303b992d640e 7b25a2, PostalCode=190001, S=Jammu And Kashmir, SERIALNUMBER= Education Kashmir, shall decide the representation in accordance b99ea18e48351b523a3b7c01b885615e147010aed92ba1bd97898ad7f8 PUNIA b756eb, CN=ABHISHEK PUNIA Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.27 16:30:02+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 with law on its merits and pass appropriate orders accordingly. While disposing of the representation, the Director, School Education Kashmir, shall take note of the judgment passed by the Division Bench of the Hon'ble Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench in the case titled as Jyoti Gupta v. UT of J&K & Ors. (O.A/161/2023) reported in 2024 Supreme Online CAT 16793. Further, for three weeks, the impugned deployment order shall not be given effect to and for the aforesaid period, the applicant [7] O.A. No. 150 of 2026 shall be allowed to continue in District Bandipora. While parting, it is made clear that the Director, School Education Kashmir, shall make every endeavour to dispose of the representation within three weeks positively. Accordingly, the registry of this Court be informed about the disposal within the aforesaid period and any delay in disposal of the representation shall be attributable to the Office of the Directorate of School Education Kashmir.
14. Accordingly, O.A. No. 150/2026 is disposed of along with all connected M.A.s, if any.
(M.S. Latif) Member (Judl.) Digitally signed by ABHISHEK PUNIA ABHISHEK DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar Bench, OU= Abhishek Punia Department of Personnel And Training, Phone= e5d23c236ae6dc43f6c9de959f2d4e141d6a443be8b086303b992d640e 7b25a2, PostalCode=190001, S=Jammu And Kashmir, SERIALNUMBER= b99ea18e48351b523a3b7c01b885615e147010aed92ba1bd97898ad7f8 PUNIA b756eb, CN=ABHISHEK PUNIA Court Master Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.27 16:30:02+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 27.02.2026