IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.N.RAVINDRAN WEDNESDAY, THE 26TH AUGUST 2009 / 4TH BHADRA 1931 WP(C).No. 20432 of 2009(Y) ------------------------------------ PETITIONER(S): --------------------- SASIDHARAN A.K., PEON, SUB TREASURY OFFICE, MANNARKKAD. BY ADV. SMT.P.V.ASHA RESPONDENT(S): ----------------------- 1. DIRECTOR OF TREASURIES, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. 2. DISTRICT TREASURY OFFICER, CHERPULASSERY, PALAKKAD DISTRICT. 3. DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. SPECIAL GOVT.PLEADER FINANCE SRI.N.MANOJ KUMAR. THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 26/08/2009, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: P.N.RAVINDRAN ------------------------------------------------ W.P.(C) No. 20432 of 2009-Y ------------------------------------------------ Dated this the 26th day of August, 2009 JUDGMENT Heard Smt.P.V.Asha, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri.N.Manoj Kumar, the learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondents. 2. The petitioner entered service as Peon in the Department of Treasuries on 16.2.2006. He applied for appointment as Peon pursuant to a notification issued by the Kerala Public Service Commission for appointment of Last Grade Servants in various Government Departments in Palakkad district. The petitioner had passed the SSLC Examination and also the Diploma Course in Mechanical Engineering even before his entry in service as Peon. He also possessed other technical qualifications and had worked as Guest Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering in a private self-financing Engineering College. With a view to better his prospects, the petitioner submitted Ext.P4 application to the District Treasury Officer through the Sub Treasury Officer, Mannarkkad, in whose office he is working, seeking inter-departmental transfer to the Technical W.P.(C) No.20432/2009-Y - 2 - Education Department. The Sub Treasury Officer forwarded Ext.P4 application to the District Treasury Officer along with Ext.P5 letter dated 17.12.2008 with a request to forward it to the Principal Secretary to Government, Finance Department. The District Treasury Officer, Cherpulassery, returned the original of Ext.P4 application with an endorsement that the petitioner has not completed five years of service in the Department of Treasuries and that inter-departmental transfer to the Technical Education Department is not permissible. The said action of the District Treasury Officer is challenged in this writ petition, wherein the petitioner seeks a writ in the nature of mandamus commanding respondents 1 and 2 to forward the original of Ext.P4 application to the third respondent for consideration and disposal. 3. The petitioner is a last grade servant, whose conditions of service are governed by the Special Rules for the Kerala Last Grade Service. Rule 17(d) of the said rules permits transfer of last grade servants from the jurisdiction of one appointing authority to that of another appointing authority, with the mutual consent of the appointing authorities concerned, if the last grade servant seeking W.P.(C) No.20432/2009-Y - 3 - such a transfer is prepared to forgo his right to seniority and to take his rank as the last in the list of approved probationers or full members, as the case may be, in the unit to which he is transferred. There is no stipulation in Rule 17(d) that last grade servants should have completed 5 years of service in the unit in which they were appointed before seeking inter-departmental transfer. Rule 17(d) enables even probationers to seek such transfer. Completion of 5 years service is prescribed in the rules only for the purpose of inter- district transfer, where the last grade employee is recruited through the District Office of the Kerala Public Service Commission. It is only in such cases that last grade servants will have to wait for a minimum period of 5 years before seeking inter-district transfer. Since the field is occupied by Special Rules, the Government orders governing inter-district transfer or inter-departmental transfer cannot operate. I am therefore of the opinion that the District Treasury Officer was bound to forward the application submitted by the petitioner together with his remarks to the appropriate authority for consideration and disposal. Further, the stand taken by the District Treasury Officer that inter-departmental transfer to the Technical Education W.P.(C) No.20432/2009-Y - 4 - Department is not permissible, is not factually correct. This Court has dealt with and disposed of many writ petitions dealing with such transfer and has also directed that the petitioners therein be given inter-departmental transfer. I accordingly dispose of this writ petition with a direction to the District Treasury Officer, Cherpulassery to receive back the original of Ext.P4 application from the petitioner and to forward it to the appropriate authority together with his views in the matter. This shall be done within one month from the date on which the petitioner resubmits the original of Ext.P4 along with the accompanying documents. The Director of Technical Education shall within three months from the date on which the original of Ext.P4 is received by him, consider the same and pass orders thereon and communicate the decision taken by him to the petitioner expeditiously thereafter. P.N.RAVINDRAN, JUDGE. dkr / TRUE COPY / PA TO JUDGE.