IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL Special Appeal No. 17 of 2007 Pooran Chandra Pant, S/o Sri Surendra Dutt Pant, Presently posted as Assistant Accountant, Head Office Nainital District Central Consumer, Cooperative Store, Haldwani, District Nainital. ……………Appellant. Versus (1) State of Uttarakhand through Secretary Registrar, Cooperative Societies of Uttarakhand, Dehradun. (2) Secretary / General Manager, Nainital, District Central Consumer Cooperative Store, Haldwani, District Nainital. (3) I.C.S. Bisht, Secretary / General Manager Nainital District Central Consumer Cooperative Store, Haldwani, District Nainital. …………Respondents. Sri Shobhit Saharia, Advocate, present for the appellant. Sri Sudhir Kumar, Brief Holder, present for the respondent No.1. Sri Manoj Tiwari, Advocate, present for the respondents No. 2 and 3. Hon’ble Prafulla C. Pant, J. Hon’ble B.S. Verma, J. [Oral- Hon’ble Prafulla C. Pant, J.] Heard learned counsel for the parties. (2) This appeal is directed against the order dated 28.02.2007, passed by learned Single Judge of this 2 Court in Writ Petition No. 1522 of 2006 (S/S), whereby said writ petition, challenging the transfer order of the petitioner, is dismissed. (3) Brief facts of the case are that petitioner has pleaded that he was posted as Assistant Accountant at Haldwani, has been transferred vide order dated 25.11.2006 to the post of Branch Manager, Central Consumer Cooperative Store, Nainital, which carries a lower pay scale. The allegations made in the writ petition are denied in the counter affidavit that the petitioner was working as Assistant Accountant. It is stated in the counter affidavit, filed on behalf of respondents in the writ petition, that petitioner was actually posted as Storekeeper. It is further stated in the counter affidavit that the petitioner’s pay and salary is protected in the post to which he is transferred. It is further stated that a special allowance of Rs.500/- is being paid to him on the post at Nainital. (4) Learned Single Judge, taking note of the statement of learned counsel for the respondents that the petitioner’s pay scale and salary is protected in new place of posting, dismissed the petition. (5) Sri Shobhit Saharia, learned counsel for the appellant / petitioner argued that petitioner cannot be posted to a post which carries lower pay scale. We agree that transfer to a post carrying lower pay scale is 3 illegal. But in the present case impugned transfer order does not make petitioner to serve in a lower pay scale. We have gone through the affidavit and counter affidavit of the parties, filed in the writ petition, and the impugned order passed by learned Single Judge. This Court in its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India can interfere with a transfer order only on limited grounds i.e. (i) when the transfer order suffers from malice (ii) when the transfer order is illegal, or (iii) when the transfer order is arbitrary. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and after going through the papers on record, we are of the view that the impugned transfer order does not suffer from any of the grounds mentioned above. Sri Manoj Tiwari, learned counsel for the respondents argued that the lower pay scale which has been pointed out by learned counsel for the petitioner relates to the post of Salesman and not to the post of Branch Manager. In reply to this, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the designation of Branch Manager is only decorative and there is no post of Branch Manager. Admittedly, neither petitioner is designated as salesman nor being paid pay scale of that post at the transferred place. (6) Apart from the above, it has been brought to our notice by learned counsel for the respondents that the petitioner has already joined his duties at his new place of posting and writ petition has already become infructuous. 4 (7) In the circumstances, we do not find any illegality in the impugned order passed by learned Single Judge. Therefore, the appeal is dismissed. (Stay Application and Urgency Application No. 317 of 2008 also stand dismissed). (B.S. Verma, J.) (Prafulla C. Pant, J.) 03.03.2009 NS