Surya Narain Sinha vs Chairman Cum Managing Director, N.T.P.C.

D.P.S. Chouhan, J.

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner Shri A. S. Raizada and the learned counsel for the respondents Shri P. S. Nair.

The petition is directed against the order of transfer of the petitioner who is in the service of National Thermal Power Corporation and working as a Manager (Technical side).

Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner had filed another writ petition numbered as W. P. No. 1765/95 with regard to Ws transfer and in that writ petition it was held that the transfer is not simpliciter but was as a consequence of his approaching this Court by means of another petition in regard to his promotion matter. That writ petition (W. P. No. 1765/95) was disposed of on 18.7.1995 and the operative portion of the order is as extracted below :-

After hearing learned counsel for both the parties, 1 direct the respondents, without expressing any opinion on merits as the petitioner is still holding the post at Vindhyachal, to consider and decide the representation of the petitioner within a period of two weeks from today in accordance with law. Till then, status quo as it exists today shall be maintained, with this direction, this writ petition stands disposed of.

In that case on behalf of the respondents reliance was placed on a decision of the Supreme Court in the case of State of M.P. & Another v. S.S. Kourav.

The representation has not been provided under any statutory power and as such for the decision of such representation, the petitioner has no right. The Court has passed the order for deciding the representation and, therefore, the representation was decided and it was communicated to the petitioner that his transfer was purely on administrative ground and no injustice has been done.

Learned counsel for the respondents relying on the above case of the Supreme Court in State of M.P. v. S.S. Kourav (supra) placed reliance on paragraph 4. The facts of that case were different and the submission was that the respondent had already worked at Jagdalpur from 1982 to 1989 and when he was transferred to Bhopal, there was no justification to retransfer him again to Jagdalpur. The Supreme Court held that the Courts or Tribunals are not appellate forums to decide transfers of officers on administrative grounds. The wheels of the administration should be allowed to run smoothly and the Courts or tribunals are not expected to interdict the working of the administrative system by transferring the officers to proper places. In this paragraph learned counsel for the petitioner relied on the following portion :

It is for the administration to lake appropriate decisions and such decisions shall stand unless they are vitiated either by mala-fides or by extraneous consideration without any factual background foundation.

In the present case no person or authority has be un-impleaded by name so to allege against him any mala-fide and so in the facts placed before this Court there is no mala tide. The transfer has been made on administrative ground.

In view of above, I find no merit in petition. It is accordingly dismissed.