Central Excise Commissioner Challenges Transfer - CAT Grants Stay
AFTER the Income Tax Commissioners, it is now the turn of the Commissioners in CBEC to challenge their transfer orders. By a transfer Order dated 12.09.2012, the CBEC transferred Mr.BN Singh, Commissioner of Central Excise, Lucknow to Allahabad as Commissioner (Appeals). Mr Singh is before the Central Administrative Tribunal with the following grounds:-
(1) As per professed policy dated 5.4.2011 officers having less then three years of service before superannuation may be considered for posting at the place of their choice, as far as possible, as envisaged in para-9.4. He was working as Commissioner of Appeals, Central Excise, Kanpur w.e.f. 25.8.2008. Since the applicant had only three years to retire, he gave the choice stations namely, (1) Kanpur, (2) Mumbai, (3) Nasik, (4) Lucknow and (5) Pune. Accordingly, he was given the4th choice and was posted at Lucknow as Commissioner, Central Excise vide order dated 28.5.12.
(2) In the same transfer policy, categorization of posts of sensitive and non-sensitive has also been made according to which the post of Commissioner is a sensitive post which the applicant is now holding. Out of 30 years of service, the applicant had been posted on non-sensitive post for about 22 years. As per para-7.2 of the policy, ordinarily, the tenure of an officer on a sensitive post shall be two to three years at one stretch. But, in breach of these guidelines, also he is being shifted within 4 months and that too on a non-sensitive post of Commissioner Appeals, Central Excise, Allahabad, which is also not one of the stations of his choice.
(3) Under para-2-(g) of the policy, all those transfers orders are required to be issued by 30th April and in any case, not later than 31st May of the year. But, in the present case, this norm has also been violated and the transfer order has been passed in the month of September, 2012 and again there is not even a whisper about it.
The CAT has stayed the transfer order till the next date of hearing on 02.11.2012.
What is a sensitive posting? Why is the post of Jurisdictional Commissioner sensitive and that of Commissioner (A) non-sensitive?
Just yesterday, a Commissioner told me that the Chairman had written about him that he was an exceptionally outstanding officer and he should be given a suitable posting. Within a few days, he was posted as Commissioner (Appeals)!!