Sanjeev Kumar Tudu vs Union Of India And Ors

L. Narasimha Reddy, J

The applicant is a Member of Central Health Service (CHS). He has been placed at the disposal of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), and through order dated 20.04.2015, he has been transferred to Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC). Ever since then, he has been functioning there, and was also made the Head of the Department. Through order dated 22.05.2018, the applicant was transferred to Lady Harding Medical College (LHMC). The said order is challenged in this OA.

The applicant contends that he is functioning as Head of the Department in MAMC and if he is transferred to LHMC, he would not be able to get that position, since there are seniors to him in that institution. It is pleaded that if he completes four years of service as HoD, he would become eligible to be appointed as Medical Superintendent, and that opportunity would be denied to him in case he is transferred. It is also pleaded that the order of transfer was affected when the applicant was on vacation.

On behalf of the respondents, separate counter affidavits are filed. It is stated that earlier attempts made to transfer the applicant did not materialise, and every order of transfer has been challenged. It is also stated that the applicant has been relieved from duties on 07.06.2018, and the 4th respondent has assumed the charge from 12.06.2018 in MAMC.

We heard Shri Rakesh Dhingra, learned counsel for the applicant, Shri Hanu Bhaskar, learned counsel for respondent No.1, Mrs. Purnima Maheshwari and Shri D. K. Singh for respondent Nos.2 & 3 and Shri M. K. Bhardwaj for respondent No.4.

Basically, the applicant is the officer of CHS. He has been placed at the disposal of GNCTD. Thereafter he has been working at MAMC for the past three years, and on account of his being senior most in that hospital, he has been made as Head of the Department. That, however, is purely incidental. The plea that if he is permitted to function as HoD in MAMC for a period of four years, he would acquire the eligibility to become Medical Superintendent, cannot at all be linked to the issue of transfer. The applicant has much service to his credit. It is not difficult for him to acquire positions as and how he progresses in his career.

The transfer is always a matter of administrative exigency, and it cannot be guided on the touchstone of personal gains or losses of the employee concerned. Even from the point of view of the usual guidelines, the applicant has completed the tenure of three years at that place. Added to that, it is not a case where he is being shifted to a far off place. The LHMC is very much in the heart of Delhi. At any rate, the applicant has been relieved from duties, and the new incumbent has joined at MAMC. We do not find any ground to interfere with the order of transfer.

The OA is accordingly dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs.