CWP No. 11070 of 2008 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No. 11070 of 2008. Date of decision 2.7.2008. Vinod Kumar and others ...... Petitioners. versus State of Haryana and another. ...... Respondents CORAM :- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASBIR SINGH. HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE L.N.MITTAL. Present : Mr. Rajiv Sharma, Advocate for the petitioners. L.N.MITTAL, J. By this common order, we are disposing of five Civil Writ Petitions bearing Civil Writ Petition Nos.11070 of 2008, 11071 of 2008, 11091 of 2008, 11136 of 2008 and 11137 of 2008 as same order dated 25.6.2008 of Deputy Commissioner-cum-Collector, Gurgaon has been impugned in all these five petitions. Facts are being taken from Civil Writ Petition No.11070 of 2008. A new District Mewat was carved out of the existing areas of Districts Gurgaon and Faridabad. Some Patwaris and Kanungos working in erstwhile Gurgaon District were assigned to District Mewat by Deputy Commissioner-cum-Collector, Gurgaon (respondent no.2). The said orders were challenged by way of Civil Writ Petition No.11479 of 2005, which CWP No. 11070 of 2008 2 was disposed of vide order dated 2.9.2005 (Annexure P-1). It was directed that the respondents shall re-consider the case of the petitioners with regard to their posting and if necessary issue guide-lines so that the interest of the petitioners as well as the administration can be protected. Thereafter, Civil Writ Petition No.1838 of 2007 filed by Lal Chand Sharma and others was disposed of vide order dated 22.1.2008 (Annexure P-2) directing the respondents to frame policy with regard to transfer of employees (including petitioners of that case) from District Gurgaon to District Mewat. Pursuant thereto, the State Government framed policy dated 13.3.2008 (Annexure P- 3). Respondent no.2 in pursuance of the policy Annexure P-3 passed the impugned order dated 17/25.6.2008 (Annexure P-4) thereby assigning/allotting the petitioners, who are Patwaris and Kanungos, to District Mewat. The said transfer order has been impugned in these five writ petitions. Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that cadre of Patwaris and Kanungos is district cadre and Collector or Deputy Commissioner can transfer the Patwaris and Kanungos within the District whereas Director can transfer Patwaris or Kanungos any where within the State and Government may transfer a Patwari or a Kanungo anywhere within India under the administrative control of the State Government. It was accordingly contended that Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon was not competent to order the transfer of the petitioners to District Mewat. The contention although apparently attractive is in fact fallacious and devoid of any substance. Firstly, it is not case of simple transfer but it is a case of bifurcation of the cadre on creation of new District of Mewat. All the CWP No. 11070 of 2008 3 petitioners, before the creation of District Mewat, were posted in District Gurgaon and, therefore, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon was the competent authority to order transfer of the petitioners. Secondly, the impugned order has been passed pursuant to policy Annexure P-3 framed by the Government and, therefore, impugned order being in implementation of the Government policy can be deemed to have been passed by the Government. It would not be out of place to notice here that the policy Annexure P-3 itself was framed by the Government pursuant to directions of this Court given in writ petitions filed by the petitioners and other employees. Keeping in view all these circumstances, it cannot be said that respondent no.2 was not competent to pass the impugned order. Petitioners in Civil Writ Petition nos.11070 of 2008, 11071 of 2008 and 11137 of 2008 have been transferred according to paragraph 1(v) of the Policy (Annexure P-3) being junior most. Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that inter se seniority of the petitioners and other Patwaris/Kanungos has not been fixed in accordance with paragraph-5 of Policy Annexure P-3 before passing the impugned order Annexure P-4 and, therefore, the impugned order is vitiated. The contention is completely meritless. Paragraph-5 of Policy Annexure P-3 provides for determining inter se seniority of those Patwaris and Kanungos, who are assigned to the new District of Mewat. The said seniority is to be fixed after assignment of the Patwaris and Kanungos to Mewat District and not in the old Districts of Gurgaon and Faridabad before ordering assignment to Mewat. On the other hand, inter se seniority in the old District of Gurgaon was not in dispute and it is not even the averment of the petitioners that any person CWP No. 11070 of 2008 4 junior to them has been retained in District Gurgaon. Relevant part of impugned order Annexure P-4 clearly states that the petitioners have been assigned to District Mewat in accordance with paragraph-1 (v) of the Policy being junior most. The petitioners have not controverted this factual position in the writ petitions. It is thus manifest that the impugned order is completely in accordance with the policy Annexure P-3 which is based on intelligible, rational and reasonable criteria. Petitioners in the other two writ petitions bearing Civil Writ Petition Nos.11091 of 2008 and 11136 of 2008 have been assigned to Mewat District being permanent residents of the area now forming part of Mewat District, in accordance with paragraph 1(ii) of the Policy Annexure P-3. Consequently, assignment of these petitioners to Mewat District is also perfectly justified being in accordance with policy Annexure P-3 based on rational criteria. Learned counsel for the petitioners in Civil Writ Petition No.11091 of 2008 contended that these petitioners are permanent residents of Sohna forming part of District Gurgaon and not of Mewat and, therefore, they could not be assigned to District Mewat on the ground that they belong to the area now forming part of District Mewat. This contention is also not acceptable. These petitioners had made representation which have been disposed of by Collector, Gurgaon vide orders dated 25.6.2008 Annexures P-6 and P-7 in the said writ petition. Perusal thereof reveals that the petitioners had given their address of permanent residence in the service record of the area which now forms part of District Mewat. Merely because on account of their posting at Sohna or some other place, the CWP No. 11070 of 2008 5 petitioners were residing at Sohna, it cannot be said that they belong to Sohna or are permanent residents of Sohna. They shall be deemed to be permanent residents of the place now falling in District Mewat as per their service record, being their native place. Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that Sher Singh Kanungo situated similarly has been allocated to District Gurgaon by the same impugned order. However, if it be so, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon can be directed to look into the same and to take appropriate action in accordance with law qua Sher Singh, but this is no ground for setting aside the impugned order qua the petitioners because the petitioners have been found to be permanent residents of the area now forming part of District Mewat as per their service record. In view of the reasons stated hereinabove, we find no merit in the instant writ petitions and accordingly all the five writ petitions are hereby dismissed. However, the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon is directed to examine the case of Sher Singh Kanungo, and to take appropriate action in accordance with law for allocation of the District to Sher Singh, if some error is found in impugned order qua Sher Singh. ( L.N. MITTAL ) JUDGE ( JASBIR SINGH ) JUDGE JULY 02, 2008. sv