Transfer is exigency and administrative decision - Executive has unfettered rights to transfer employees from one place to another - CAT
A Commissioner of Income Tax is before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against his transfer. One of the grounds for retention was children's education. The Tribunal noted, "His two children are college going students and are studying at Amity University. They are not school going children for whose education the parents are to be at the station of education. The officers of applicant's stature should not take stand to continue to be in a place for their children's higher education in the universities."
The Tribunal observed that transfer is part and incidence of the service conditions of an employee, which should not be ordinarily interfered with by a Court of law, unless it is found that either;
(i) that the authority who issued the orders, is not competent to pass the transfer order; or
(ii) that the service rules prohibit such transfer; or
(ii) the order is mala fide either in fact or in law; or
(iv) the transfer suffers from arbitrary action of the executive.
Transfer is an exigency and incidence of service and is an administrative decision. The executive has unfettered rights to transfer its employees from one place to another place. However, interference by the Tribunal with transfer orders should only be in very rare cases.
The Tribunal also observed that the ‘Transfer Guidelines' are administrative one and does not have statutory backing.