ivil Appeal Nos
537 539 of 1970
Appeals by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated 20 8 1968 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Misc
Petition Nos 282 283 and 293 of 1968
section K Gambhir for the Appellant
section section Khanduja for the Respondents
787 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by UNTWALIA J
These three appeals by special leave are from the common judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowing the Writ Petitions filed by the six respondents and quashing the orders of their transfer made by the State Government in exercise of their power under section 947 of the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act 1961 hereinafter called the Act
The respondents were employees of the Municipal Council Sagar
They were employed as lecturers and teachers in the various Municipal Higher Secondary Schools run and managed by the said Municipal Council
Three orders were issued by the State Government on various dates in June 1968 transferring certain lecturers and teachers serving under a particular Municipal Council to the schools run and managed by another Municipal Council
The six respondents were transferred by the said orders to various places
They challenged the order of transfer in the High Court on the ground that the State Government had no power to transfer them under section 947 of the Act
The High Court has accepted their contention and hence these appeals
We shall quote the relevant provisions of section 94 of the Act as they stood at the relevant time from the judgment of the High Court
There have been some amendments in the year 1973 with which we are not concerned
They read as follows 94
Appointment of staff 1 Every Council having an annual income of five lakhs of rupees or more shall subject to rules framed under section 95 appoint a Revenue Officer and an Accounts Officer and may appoint such other officers and servants as may be necessary and proper for the efficient discharge of its duties
2 Every Council not falling under sub section 1 shall subject to rules framed under section 95 appoint a Sanitary Inspector an Overseer a Revenue Inspector and an Accountant and may appoint such other officers and servants as may be necessary and proper for the efficient discharge of its duties         7 The State Government may transfer any officer or servant of a council mentioned in sub sections 1  2 and in receipt of total emoluments exceeding one hundred rupees to any other Council
 788 The High Court has taken the view that the words any officer or servant of a Council mentioned in sub sections 1 and 2 occurring in sub section
7 mean any officer or servant as enumerated or specified in sub sections
1 and 2 that is to say the officers who can be transferred under sub section
7 are only Revenue Officer Accounts Officer Sanitary Inspector and an Overseer a Revenue Inspector or an Accountant
No other officer or servant can be transferred
We do not think that the High Court is right in putting this restricted interpretation to sub section
7 of section 94
Other officers and servants who can be appointed by the Municipal Councils either under sub section
1 or under sub section
2 are also the officers and servants mentioned in these sub sections for the purposes of sub section
Theoretically therefore the power does exist in the State Government to transfer them
We must however hasten to add that in case of employees getting small emoluments the power seems to be meant to be sparingly exercised under some compelling exigencies of a particular situation and not as a matter of routine
If it were to be liberally exercised it will create tremendous problems and difficulties in the way of Municipal employees getting small salaries
There may be hardly an employee serving under any Municipal Council who cannot be theoretically and literally covered by sub sections
1 and 2 and subjected to the exercise of power of transfer under sub section
The High Court in support of its view has referred to sub section
4 of section 94 wherein only the officers enumerated in sub sections
1 and 2 are specified
Obviously the said sub section does not cover the cases of other officers and servants as mentioned in sub sections
1 and 2
The language of sub sec
7 is in contrast to that of sub section
4 and instead of lending support to the view of the High Court goes against it
It was argued for the respondents that they are employees of the Schools run and managed by the Municipal Councils but not of the Councils themselves
We do not think that this argument has got any substance
Education department is one of the departments of a Municipal Council
Duties of the Council are enumerated in sub section
1 of section 123 clause v which provides for establishing and maintaining primary schools
Under section 124 a Council may at its discretion provide either wholly or partly out of the Municipal property and fund for all or any of the following matters namely c furthering educational objects Thus establishment and running of Higher Secondary Schools by Municipal Councils are envisaged under the Act and the lecturers and teachers appointed in the various schools 789 are undoubtedly the officers and servants of the Municipal Councils
For the reasons stated above we hold that the State Government had the power to transfer the respondents
But it is not clear why the power was exercised in the case of the respondents
In any event learned counsel for the appellant assured us that the State is more anxious for the correct interpretation of the law engrafted in section 947 of the Act than to enforce the order of transfer against the respondents
In the result while clarifying the position of law we dismiss the appeals but make no order as to costs
NKA Appeals dismissed


Summary:
The respondents were employed as lecturers and teachers in the various Municipal Higher Secondary Schools run and managed by a Municipal Council in the State
The State Government transferred certain lecturers and teachers serving under a particular Municipal Council to the Schools run and managed by another Municipal Council
The respondents writ petition challenging the order of their transfers was allowed by the High Court on the ground that no officer other than those mentioned in section 947 namely Revenue Officer Accounts Officer etc
could be transferred
In the State s appeal the respondents contended that they were employees of schools run and managed by Municipal Councils but not of the Councils
 HELD 1
The High Court was not right in putting a restricted interpretation on section 947 of the Act
The other officers and servants who can be appointed by the Municipal Councils under sub section 1 or sub section 2 of Section 97 are also officers and servants mentioned in these sub sections for the purposes of sub section 7
Theoretically therefore the power does exist in the State Government to transfer them
788 B C 2
The argument that the respondents are the employees of schools run and managed by the Municipal Councils but not of the councils themselves has no substance
Education department is one of the departments of a Municipal Council
Section 124 envisages the establishment and running of Higher Secondary Schools by Municipal Councils and therefore the lecturers and teachers appointed in the various schools are officers and servants of the Municipal Councils
788 G H 789 A 3
In case of employees getting small emoluments the power to transfer should be sparingly exercised under some compelling exigencies of a particular situation and not as a matter of routine
788 C D