IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No. 4084 of 2010 Date of decision: 27.10.2010 Chaman Lal …Petitioner. Versus State of H.P. & others …Respondents. Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Gupta, J. Whether approved for reporting?1 No. For the petitioner: Ms. Ranjana Parmar, Advocate. For the respondents: Mr. Rajesh Mandhotra, Deputy Advocate General, for respondents No. 1 and 2. Respondent No. 3 proceeded against ex parte. Deepak Gupta, J. (Oral) 1. This petition is directed against the order dated 12th July, 2010, whereby the petitioner had been transferred from IPH Division Dalhousie to Badukhar and Shri Bachitter Singh, the private respondent, who was under transfer from Dharmshala to Badukhar, had been adjusted at Dalhousie in place of the petitioner. 2. There are two grievances of the petitioner. The first grievance is that the order of adjustment of Shri Bachitter Singh 1 Whether the reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the Judgment? Yes. -: 2 :- at Dalhousie has not been passed in the public interest and the State, even in its reply, has not given any justification for ordering the adjustment of Shri Bachitter Singh. The second ground raised is that the petitioner Chaman Lal had only about one year and ten months to retire, when the impugned order was passed and as such, the order has been passed when he had less than two years to retire and, therefore, the petitioner should not have been posted at Badukhar. 3. In Sant Lal versus State of H.P., this Court has clearly held that the State should justify what is the public interest. However, in the present case, I am of the view that the petitioner, in view of his past service record, is not entitled to the relief he claimed. On perusal of the service record of the petitioner, I find that he joined the service in the year 1974 and till date he has served 28 years at Dalhousie and 5 years at Chamba, which is a nearby station. Therefore, other than a couple of years, which he had spent at Salooni and Indora, which are also not too far from Dalhousie, he has virtually managed to stay at Dalhousie for his entire service. So far as Shri Bachitter Singh is concerned, he, no doubt, remained at Dalhousie for about 11 years, but he has remained posted at other places, such as, Nurpur, Chamba, Dharamshala, also. He also spent three years in the tribal area of Kaza, whereas the petitioner has virtually spent no time outside Chamba. -: 3 :- 4. In view of the above discussion, the petitioner is not entitled to any discretionary relief from this Court. The petition is, accordingly, dismissed. (Deepak Gupta) Judge October 27, 2010 (rajni)