IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE EIGHTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU WRIT PETITION NO : 17327 of 2008 Between: P. Uma Maheswara Rao, s/o. Late Satyanarayana, Govt. Boys Hostel (BC), Ampolu, Srikakulam District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by its Principal Secretary, Backward Classess Welfare Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector Srikakulam District, Srikakulam. 3 The District BC Welfare Officer, Srikakulam. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to to issue writ order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of "Certiorari" calling for the records relating to the order dated 28- 7-2008 passed in OA No. 4349/2008 and batch by the Hon'ble A.P. Administrative Tribunal as unjust and contrary to law and also set aside the order in Rc.NO. D2/113/08 dated 10-6-2008 issued by the 2nd respondent and consequently direct the respondents to continue the petitioner as Hostel Welfare Oﬃcer, Ampollu in the interest of justice and pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.M.RATNA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR SERVICES I The Court made the following : HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED AND HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU Writ Petition No.17327 of 2008 ORDER: (Per Hon’ble Sri Justice Ghulam Mohammed) This writ petition is ﬁled challenging the order dated 28-07-2008 passed in O.A.No.4349 of 2008 on the ﬁle of Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad. 2. The petitioner ﬁled the above O.A. challenging the order in Rc.No.D2/113/08 dated 10-6-2008 issued by the second respondent, by which the petitioner was transferred and posted as Hostel Welfare Oﬃcer, Government B.C. Boys Hostel, Santhakavity. The case of the petitioner is that while he was working as Hostel Welfare Oﬃcer, Government Boys Hostel (BC), Ampolu, Srikakulam district, he was assigned the duties of an Election Supervisor in the preparation of Photo Electoral Rolls for Srikakulam Assembly constituency on 24-4-2008; that the State Government issued G.O.Ms.No.134 Finance (W&M) Department, dated 09-5-2008 laying down guidelines relaxing the ban on transfers and a Memo dated 16-6-2008 was also issued to the eﬀect that the oﬃcials connected with preparation of photo electoral rolls of the Assembly Constituencies, shall not be disturbed from their place of posting from 10-4-2008 without prior concurrence of the Election Commission of India till the date of ﬁnal publication. The Tribunal after considering the rival contentions, refused to interfere with the order of transfer and dismissed the OA holding that the petitioner cannot question the transfer order on the ground that he is on election duty and no speciﬁc mala ﬁdes are attributed. Hence, this writ petition is ﬁled by the applicant. 3. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Government Pleader. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn our attention to the Memo dated 16-6-2008 and contended that the petitioner cannot be disturbed from the present place of posting and that G.O.Ms.No.134 dated 09-5-2008 contemplates that the petitioner, who is assigned the said work of an Election Supervisor, shall not be transferred. Learned counsel also submitted that the petitioner had submitted a representation to the ﬁrst respondent against the transfer order. On the other hand, learned Government Pleader supported the order of the Tribunal. 5. We have considered the contentions advanced on either side. G.O.Ms.No.134 dated 09-5-2008 clearly stipulates that the relaxation on ban shall be for the period from 15th May, 2008 to 16th June, 2008. Further, the Memo dated 16-6-2008 was issued by the Commissioner, PR&RE to the eﬀect that all the oﬃcials connected with preparation of photo electoral rolls of the Assembly Constituencies, shall not be disturbed from their place of posting from 10-4-2008 without prior concurrence of the Election Commission of India till the date of ﬁnal publication. It is settled law that transfer is an incidence of service. It is not in dispute that the petitioner has been assigned the work relating to preparation of photo electoral rolls of Assembly Constituencies. This aspect of the matter has not been considered by the Tribunal. However, having regard to the fact that the petitioner has already submitted a representation dated 19-6-2008 to the ﬁrst respondent against the transfer order, we are not inclined to further express any opinion on merits of the case. 6. In the circumstances, the ﬁrst respondent is directed to dispose of the representation dated 19-6-2008 ﬁled by the petitioner within a period of four weeks from today. Till such time, the petitioner shall not be disturbed from the present place of posting. 7. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. No costs. ___________________________ GHULAM MOHAMMED, J. ___________________ C.V.RAMULU, J. 08-08-2008 Note: Operative portion by wire at party’s cost. (b/o) bsc