IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE NINTH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 7379 of 2009 Between: V.Ramesh Babu S/o. Late Srinivasulu R/o.Guntakal, Anantapur District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 South Central Railway, Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad, represented by its Chief Security Commissioner (RPF). 2 The Divisional Security Commissioner(R P F ) Guntakal, Anantapur District. ..RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.N.SREEDHAR REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: MR.R.S.MURTHY STANDING COUNSEL FOR SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY The Court made the following : O R D E R: This writ petition is filed for a writ of Mandamus to declare order No.46/2009 dated 31-03-2009 passed by respondent No.1 as illegal and arbitrary. Heard Sri N.Sreedhar Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri R.S.Murthy, learned Standing Counsel for the South Central Railway appearing for respondents 1 and 2, and perused the record. By the impugned order, the petitioner, who is Driver Grade-I of Railway Protection Force, is transferred from Guntakal Division to Secunderabad Division. The only ground on which this transfer order is questioned in this writ petition is that neither the provisions of the Railway Protection Force Rules, 1987 (for short “the Rules”) nor the Standing Order made thereunder provide for transfer of a driver from one Division to another Division. At the hearing, Sri R.S.Murthy, learned Standing Counsel, drew my attention to Rule 25 and Schedule–II of the Rules. Under Rule 25 of the Rules, the superior officers of the Force are empowered to exercise such administrative and disciplinary powers over the members of the force placed under their command as are specified in Schedules II to IV and such other powers as are conferred on railway servants of equivalent rank by any Rules relating to such servants and discharge such responsibilities as are specified in these rules or may be specified in any directions issued by the Central Government or the Director General in this behalf. Rule 78 of the Rules enumerated the members of the Force, who include Drivers Grade-I, Grade-II & Grade- III. Schedule-II contains the administrative powers of the superior officers. Serial No. 5(3) of Schedule-II pertains to transfer of the enrolled members of the Force from one division to the other division of the same Railway or from one RPSF battalion to the other. These provisions clearly demonstrate that the petitioner, who is a member of the Force, being Driver Grade-I is amenable to be transferred from one Division to another Division subject to administrative exigencies. The law is well settled that transfer is an incidence of service and in the absence of any plea of mala fides raised by the petitioner, and in the face of existence of power in the respondents to effect inter divisional transfer, I do not find any reason to interfere with the impugned order. The writ petition is, accordingly, dismissed. As a sequel to dismissal of main petition, WPMP No.9676 of 2009 filed by the petitioner for interim relief is disposed of as infructuous. C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J Dated 9th April, 2009 vrn