SHIMLA
The High Court has ruled that district cadre employees do not have a vested right to seek transfer to another district. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel dismissed a petition filed by a JBT teacher seeking an inter-district transfer, stating that the transfer policy does not grant any employee the inherent right to move from one district to another at will.
The court agreed with the state government’s submission that when an employee is appointed under a district cadre, they are bound to serve in that particular district. It observed that consideration of inter-district transfer requests lies within the discretion of the competent authority and must not be exercised arbitrarily.
As per the case details, the competent authority had rejected the petitioner’s representation, citing a report from the Deputy Director of Primary Education, Solan. The report stated that out of 1,813 sanctioned posts of JBT/HT teachers in Solan district, around 363 posts were vacant. The authority noted that inter-district transfer is not a matter of right and that teacher transfers are governed by administrative requirements and student interest under policy provisions.
The order further highlighted that given the significant number of vacancies, transferring the petitioner as requested could adversely affect students’ academic interests.
While dismissing the plea, the court concurred with the authority’s observations, noting that over 350 posts were vacant in Solan district on the date the decision was taken. It observed that transferring the petitioner to Mandi district would further reduce staff strength and negatively impact students at the petitioner’s present school.
