IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA. C.W.P. No. 10242 of 2011-E. Decided on: 8th December, 2011. Khima Ram, son of Shri Sish Ram, r/o village Bhalsi, P.O. Nirmand, Tehsil Nirmand, District Kullu, H.P., presently serving as lineman in HPSEB, Sub Division, Nirmand, District Kullu, H.P. …..Appellant. -Versus- 1. HPSEB Ltd. through its Secretary (Vidhyut Bhavan), Shimla-4. 2. Sr. Executive Engineer, Election Division, HPSEB Anni, Distt. Kullu, H.P. 3. Assistant Engineer, Election Sub Division HPSEB Nirman, Distt. Kullu, H.P. …… Respondents. Civil Writ Petition Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of appropriate writ, order or directions to the respondents in the form of writ of mandamus; on the facts and circumstances mentioned hereinafter. Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kurian Joseph, Chief Justice. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Sharma, Judge. For the petitioner : M/S Rajiv Jiwan, Sandeep Sharma and Anita Dogra, Advocates. For the respondents. : Ms. Anjula Khajuria, Advocate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Justice Rajiv Sharma, J. (Oral): Petitioner is aggrieved by the issuance of order dated 23.11.2011, whereby he has been transferred from Electrical Sub- Division HPSEBL, Nirmand to Electrical Sub-Division HPSEBL, Anni. 2 2. Case of the petitioner, in a nut-shell, is that he has only one year and four months to retire. According to the professed norms followed by the respondents, an incumbent, who is on verge of retire of retirement, is generally given the stations of his/her choice in order to mitigate the hardships in advanced age. This norm in the present case has not been followed by the respondents while transferring the petitioner from Nirmand to Ani. Petitioner is a Lineman and belongs to lowest strata of the society. The Management shall always be alive to the genuine problems of its employees. The Class-IV employees should not be transferred beyond a distance of 25 kms. from their native places, except in extraordinary public interest and administrative exigencies. The decision to transfer the petitioner to a distant place, that too, at the verge of retirement is arbitrary. 3. Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed. Annexure P-1, dated 18.11.2011 is quashed and set aside. Respondents are directed to permit the petitioner to discharge his duties at Electrical Sub-Division HPSEBL, Nirmand till superannuation. The pending application(s), if any, also stands disposed of. Authenticated copy. (Justice Kurian Joseph), Chief Justice. (Justice Rajiv Sharma), Judge. December 08, 2011. (bhupender)