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Judgment
JUSTICE RITU TAGORE, MEMBER [JUDL.]
The Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is aggrieved of the arbitrary and unexplained inaction on the part of the respondents, who have failed to consider her genuine and legitimate claim for a suitable posting within District Bandipora, despite the fact that she has already appeared before the competent authorities and submitted her medical documents for consideration. It is submitted that the applicant is suffering from various ailments, including bronchial asthma with recurrent exacerbations, for which she has been medically advised to avoid exposure to dust, pollens and extremes of weather. Her case was duly considered by the Standing Medical Board and its report/recommendations were forwarded to the Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, vide communication dated 18.05.2026. Despite submission of the aforesaid report, no decision has been taken on her request for retention/posting within District Bandipora.
It is further submitted that the applicant has been serving as a teacher in the School Education Department and has (RET), which fact is not in dispute. The applicant has never claimed any special privilege with regard to the place of posting and has never been averse to serving at any suitable place within District Bandipora. Her request is confined to a suitable posting within the district on genuine medical and family grounds. It is stated that, keeping in view her circumstances, the Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, had earlier considered her case and, on health grounds, posted her within District Bandipora vide order dated 13.06.2025, pursuant to which she was posted at Primary School Shaldub, Panar, Zone Bandipora.
Learned counsel submits that the aforesaid posting order was subsequently withdrawn by the Deputy Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, vide order dated 23.02.2026, without properly considering the circumstances in which the applicant had earlier been posted within District Bandipora. The competence and the said order are also disputed and, according to learned counsel, require examination in accordance with law. It is submitted that the withdrawal of the earlier posting has caused grave hardship and prejudice to the applicant and that the subsequent report of the Standing Medical Board and the medical material placed on record constitute relevant circumstances which require consideration by the competent authority.
Learned counsel further submits that the applicant has a long-standing medical history in support of which she has placed on record the medical certificate issued by the District Medical Board, Bandipora, dated 09.08.2017, the subsequent medical certificate of the year 2021 and the report of the Standing Medical Board. It is also submitted that the applicant had applied for extension of Child Care Leave for a further period of 30 days, which request was considered and sanctioned by the competent authority vide order dated 05.05.2026. According to learned into consideration while examining the applicant’s request for a suitable posting within District Bandipora.
Learned counsel submits that the applicant does not seek posting at any particular school as a matter of right. Her limited grievance is that her request for a suitable posting within District Bandipora be considered fairly, objectively and in accordance with the applicable rules and policy, having regard to the material placed before the competent authority. It is submitted that the applicant is willing to discharge her duties at any suitable place within the district, subject to the administrative requirements of the Department.
Learned counsel further submits that, after regularization, an employee appointed as Rehbar-e-Taleem, upon acquiring the status of a regular/general-line teacher, cannot be treated as permanently confined to the particular post or school against which he or she was initially engaged as RET. Reliance has been placed upon the Kashmir and Ladakh in Abdul Rashid Lone v. UT of J&K & Others, WPC No. 455/2020, wherein, according to learned counsel, the question of confinement of a regularized general-line teacher to the original RET post/school was considered. Reliance has also been placed upon the judgment/order in Neelofar Nisar and the order passed by the Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Jammu Bench, in O.A. No. 161/2023, titled Jyoti Gupta, decided in November, 2024.
Learned counsel also relies upon Government Order No. 469-Edu of 2014 dated 25.06.2014 and submits that the said Government Order, inter alia, recognizes the transferability of Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers after regularization within the district to which they belong. It is contended that, in view of the aforesaid policy, the applicant could not be treated as permanently attached to the original RET post or school against which she was initially engaged and that her request for a suitable posting accordance with the said Government Order and the applicable transfer policy.
It is further submitted that the applicant’s case also deserves consideration on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, as she is a married woman having continuing medical difficulties, while her husband is a retired Government employee residing at Bandipora. Learned counsel submits that the applicant has genuine family circumstances requiring her to remain within District Bandipora, apart from the grounds already placed before the respondents.
Learned counsel further submits that the applicant had also arranged a suitable substitute, namely, Riaz Ahmad Samoon, stated to be serving in Government Higher Secondary School, Bandipora, Zone Bandipora, who was willing to mutually swap/exchange the place of posting with the applicant. The applicant accordingly submitted a joint application along with the proposed substitute request has not been considered and no reasoned order has been passed explaining why the proposed adjustment could not be accepted.
Learned counsel submits that the request for mutual adjustment assumes significance in view of the communication/order dated 22.08.2026 issued by the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, addressed to the Chief Education Officer, Bandipora, whereby similar requests involving substitution/mutual adjustment of teachers were considered and accepted and the concerned teachers were accommodated at their requested places. According to learned counsel, the said order demonstrates that substitution/mutual adjustment was considered by the Department in the case of other similarly situated teachers. The applicant’s request, therefore, also required due and objective consideration, particularly when she had furnished a willing substitute and her request was confined to the same district.
Central Administrative Tribunal11.It is further submitted that the respondents have failed to consider the applicable transfer policy governing Rehbar-e-Taleem/regularized teachers and have not disclosed any distinguishing circumstance or administrative impediment for not considering the applicant’s request. Learned counsel submits that the respondents were required to consider the applicant’s case cumulatively, taking into account her status as a regularized Rehbar-e-Taleem teacher, the Government policy regarding transferability after regularization, the medical material and Standing Medical Board report, her earlier posting within District Bandipora, her family circumstances, the applicable transfer policy and judicial precedents, as well as the availability of a willing substitute for mutual adjustment.
Learned counsel submits that the failure to consider the aforesaid relevant factors and the continued inaction on the applicant’s representation disclose non-application of mind. It is further contended that the withdrawal of the earlier posting vide order dated 23.02.2026, insofar as it Central Administrative Tribunaladversely affects the applicant’s continuation within District Bandipora, also requires reconsideration in the light of the material subsequently placed before the competent authority.
After arguing the matter for some time, learned counsel for the applicant submits that the interests of justice would be adequately served if the present Original Application is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to consider the applicant's claim for a suitable posting within Zone Bandipora, District Bandipora, in the light of the report of the Member Secretary, Standing Medical Board, forwarded vide communication dated 18.05.2026 and placed on record as Annexure-A1, the medical documents relied upon by the applicant, her request for mutual posting/adjustment along with the proposed substitute, the Government policy applicable to such cases, including Government Order No. 469-Edu of 2014 dated 25.06.2014, and the order/communication dated 22.08.2026, placed on record as Annexure-A9, whereby Central Administrative Tribunalsimilar requests of other teachers were considered by the Department. It is further submitted that the respondents may also consider the applicant's grievance with regard to the withdrawal of her earlier posting vide order dated 23.02.2026, as well as the other assertions and grounds raised in the Original Application, together with the documents annexed thereto, and pass an appropriate reasoned and speaking order in accordance with law within a stipulated period.
Mr. Satinder Singh, learned AAG, appearing on advance notice, submits that the present Original Application may be disposed of with appropriate directions, without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the respondents.
Having considered the submissions made at the Bar and perused the material placed on record, this Tribunal is of the considered opinion that no useful purpose would be served by keeping the present Original Application pending, particularly in view of the limited prayer made on behalf of the applicant.
Central Administrative Tribunal16.Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case or the rival claims of the parties, the present Original Application is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to consider the applicant's claim for a suitable posting within Zone Bandipora, District Bandipora, in the light of the report of the Member Secretary, Standing Medical Board, forwarded vide communication dated 18.05.2026 and placed on record as Annexure-A1, the medical documents relied upon by the applicant, her request for mutual posting/adjustment along with the proposed substitute, the applicable Government policy, including Government Order No. 469-Edu of 2014 dated 25.06.2014, and the order/communication dated 22.08.2026 placed on record as Annexure-A9, whereby similar requests of other teachers were considered by the Department. The respondents shall also take into consideration the applicant's grievance regarding the withdrawal of her earlier posting vide order dated 23.02.2026, the judicial Central Administrative Tribunalprecedents relied upon by her, and the other assertions and grounds raised in the Original Application, together with the documents annexed thereto, and accord due consideration to the same strictly in accordance with the applicable rules, regulations and policy governing the field, subject to the applicant fulfilling the prescribed conditions and there being no legal impediment thereto.
The respondents shall pass a detailed, reasoned and speaking order within a period of four (04) weeks from the date a certified copy of this order is served upon them and communicate the same to the applicant.
With the aforesaid directions, the Original Application stands disposed of. Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, shall also stand disposed of.
No order as to costs.
Registry shall consign the record to the Record Room after due compliance.