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Judgment
Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge (Oral)
In compliance to the last order, respondents No. 5 stands served dasti. As none has put in appearance on behalf of respondent No. 5 despite service, accordingly, said respondent is ordered to be proceeded against ex parte.
By way of this writ petition, the petitioner has inter alia prayed for the following reliefs:-
“I. Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, for quashing and setting aside the impugned rejection of representation vide office order dated 23.04.2026 (Annexure P-5) and underlying impugned transfer order dated 18.03.2026 (Annexure P-1), passed by the respondent authorities, being arbitrary, illegal, and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India;
II. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondents to permit the petitioner to continue at his present place of posting, i.e., the office of Joint Commissioner (Excise), Central Zone, Mandi, H.P., or in the alternative, to accommodate him at a station nearest to his native place, in accordance with the applicable transfer policy and keeping in view his near- retirement status and compelling family circumstances;
III. Pending final disposal of the present writ petition, kindly stay the operation and implementation of the impugned rejection order dated 23.06.2026 and underlying impugned transfer orders dated 18.03.2026 (Annexure P-1) and restrain the respondents from relieving the petitioner from his present place of posting;”
When this case was listed before the Court on 07.05.2026, the following order was passed:-
“CWP No.6972 of 2026 & CMP No.10069 of 2026 Notice. Mr.Pushpinder Jaswal, learned Additional Advocate General, accepts notice on behalf of the respondents. As prayed for, reply be filed by the next date of hearing. List on 20.05.2026. Till then, status-quo, qua the posting of petitioner be maintained. Learned Additional Advocate General to have instruction, as to why the petitioner who is at the fag end of his service career, cannot be adjusted either at Mandi, H.P., or at some station in and around Mandi.”
Reply to the petition stands filed by the State, which has been perused by the Court. Learned Deputy Advocate General has pointed out that the petitioner has been posted in Mandi since May 2022 and it is on account of shortage of Drivers in the Headquarters that the petitioner has been ordered to be transferred to the office of the Deputy Commissioner (Excise), Kullu.
A perusal of Annexure P-1 demonstrates that while transferring the petitioner from Mandi to Kullu on the pretext that there are no Drivers available at the Headquarters, the private respondent, who was serving at Shimla, has been posted in place of the petitioner at Mandi. If there was bonafide in the stand of the Department, that indeed posting of a driver was required at Kullu for want of drivers, then nothing prevented the Department from transferring the private respondent from Shimla to Mandi/Kullu. The very fact that the petitioner has been transferred from Mandi to Kullu with TTA and joining time, whereas the private respondent has been transferred from Shimla to Mandi without TTA and joining time, demonstrates that the said transfer is on account of the request made by the private respondent.
Though in light of the fact that the petitioner has already completed four years in Mandi, ordinarily the Court would not have interfered with the transfer order, however, in light of the fact that the petitioner is to superannuate in less than two years and further he is serving against the post of a Driver only, interest of justice demands that the Court should interfere with the impugned transfer order.
Accordingly, this writ petition is disposed of by quashing Annexure P-1, transfer order dated 18.03.2026. Respondents are directed to allow the petitioner to serve at Mandi till his superannuation. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, also stand disposed of accordingly.