Narendra Singh vs Union Of India & Ors.

Deliverd by Hon'ble Mr.Tarun Sridhar, Member-A:

Shri Sudhir Kumar Tripathi, ld. counsel for the applicant and Shri Rajesh Tiwari, ld. counsel for the respondents are present.

The applicant is a Pharmacist (Ayurvedic) working at Employees State Insurance Corporation (in short ESIC) MH Indore. He was transferred/diverted from ESIC MH Indore to work in ESIC Hospital Varanasi and he is working in the establishment for last three years on an order which is said to be a "Diversion" order. All his pay and other allowances are being paid from Indore. Vide order dated 19.07.2021 the earlier order of diversion has been cancelled which means that the applicant will now have to go back to his original establishment in Indore from where he is drawing all his service benefits.

Learned counsel for the applicant argues that application of the applicant for inter-regional transfer is already pending before the respondents and hence he prays for stay on the cancellation of the diversion order dated 19.07.2021 till the decision is taken on his Inter Regional Transfer application. He further draws our attention to the family circumstances of the applicant to pray for the relief of cancellation of the diversion order and a direction to be issued to post him permanently to Varanasi. It is not for us to direct the respondents as to where the applicant be posted, this being the sole prerogative of the authorities.

We find that the diversion order itself is beyond the pale of normal government policy. If a government employee is working in a particular establishment drawing his pay and allowances, he is expected to work there although in special or unique circumstances he could be admittedly assigned temporarily to some other establishment. However, we find that in the instant case, he has availed an opportunity to work for a period of more than three years at Varanasi and there is no justification or legal claim that he should be posted in Varanasi. Therefore, this original application is dismissed at the admission stage with liberty to the applicant to file an appropriate representation before the respondents to consider his request for transfer.