IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No.1912 of 2008 alongwith CWP Nos. 1923, 1924 and 1927 of 2008. Date of decision: 29.5.2009 ________________________________________________________ CWP No. 1912 of 2008 Sh.Anant Ram …. Petitioner Versus State of H.P & ors. ….. Respondents CWP No.1923 of 2008 Sh.Khem Raj ….. Petitioner Versus State of H.P & Ors. ….. Respondents CWP No.1924 of 2008 Sh.Nek Ram ….. Petitioner Versus State of H.P & Ors. …… Respondents CWP No.1927 of 2008 Sh.Chet Ram ….. Petitioner Versus State of H.P & Ors. ….. Respondents Coram: The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Gupta, J. The Hon’ble Mr.Justice V.K.Ahuja, J. Whether approved for reporting ? No For the petitioners: Mr.Devender Sharma, Advocate vice Mr.C.N. Singh, Advocate. 2 For the respondents: S/Shri R.K.Bawa, Advocate General and R.M.Bisht, Dy.Advocate General for respondents No.1 to 3. _____________________________________________________ Deepak Gupta, J.(Oral) The aforesaid four writ petitions are being disposed of by this common judgment since similar questions of law and facts are involved in these four writ petitions. CWP No.1912 of 2008 has been filed by Anant Ram, son of Sh.Ram Dayal. The petitioner was engaged as daily wage Beldar in September, 1984 and his services were regularized in the year 2003. He was working in I&PH Section, Behli. He has challenged the impugned order dated 26.7.2008 whereby he has been transferred from I&PH Section, Behli under the I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar to Sunder Nagar Section Committee area. CWP No.1923 of 2008 has been filed by Sh.Khem Raj, son of Sh.Ram Dayal. The petitioner herein was engaged as Beldar on daily wage basis in the year 1991 and his services were regularized in the year 2007. He was working in I&PH Section, Behli. He has also challenged the impugned order dated 26.7.2008 whereby he has been transferred from I&PH Section, Behli under the 3 I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar to I&PH Sub Division, Kanaid under I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar. CWP No.1924 of 2008 has been filed by Sh.Nek Ram, son of Sh.Ram Dayal. This petitioner was engaged as daily wage Beldar in the year 1991 and his services were regularized as Beldar in the year 2007. He was also working in I&PH Section, Behli under the I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar and has been transferred to I&PH Section, Sunder Nagar vide impugned order dated 26.9.2008. CWP No.1927 of 2008 has been filed by Sh.Chet Ram, son of Sh.Ram Dayal. The petitioner herein was engaged as Beldar on daily wage basis in the year 1991 and his services were regularized in the year 2006. He was working in I&PH Section under I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar. He has also challenged the impugned order dated 26.7.2008 whereby he has been transferred from I&PH Section under the I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar to I&PH Sub Division, Gohar under I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar. The allegations made in all the petitions are that respondent No.4 who is a local Pradhan used his political influence to get the petitioners who are brothers 4 transferred from Behli to Sundernagar. Notice was not issued to respondent No.4. We find that all the four brothers were posted out of Behli at the same time. All the four brothers are Beldars at the lowest rung of the ladder and their transfer in one go smacks of mala fides. Though serious allegations were made in the petitions, in reply(s) thereof it has only been stated that it is the prerogative of the State to transfer an employee at any place. We must remember that here we are not dealing with the highly paid employees but with very lowly paid employees. In the reply other than making a bald assertion that the transfers of the petitioners have been made in the exigencies of service, no material has been placed before this Court to show what was the administrative necessity for transferring all the brothers in one stroke. We may note that Behli is near Tata Pani and these four brothers have been posted more than 150 kms. away at Sunder Nagar. Normally this Court does not interfere in the administrative functions. However, the facts of these cases are entirely different. The facts show that the four brothers were transferred more than 150 Kms. away at or about the same time. It is true that they had 5 long stay at Behli but the respondents have failed to place any material on record to show that no person with longer stay at Behli has been retained there. The transfers in these cases are totally illegal and are apparently actuated by some extraneous considerations and have not been ordered on account of administrative exigencies. By transferring all the four brothers together, respondents have clearly shown that they want to harass the lowly paid employees. The petitioners have specifically given the names of persons such as Roop Chand, Beser Dutt etc. who were having longer stay at Behli. These persons have not been transferred. Why have the respondents followed a policy of pick and choose and only the petitioners have been singled out for these transfers. The answer is obvious. The children of the petitioners shall virtually face starvation in case all the brothers are forced to leave their native place. We, therefore, set aside the transfer orders of the petitioners and further direct that they shall be permitted to rejoin at I&PH, Section, Behli under I&PH Division, Sunder Nagar immediately on production of the copy of this judgment. 6 All the writ petitions are allowed in the aforesaid terms with costs assessed at Rs.3000/- in each case. ( Deepak Gupta ) Judge May 29, 2009 (V.K.Ahuja) (m) Judge