Union of India through Secretary, Ministry of Railways, Railway Board, Rail Bhawan, New Delhi110001.  Respondent ( By Shri Rajender Khattar, Advocate ) O R D E R Justice V. K. Bali, Chairman: The applicant was initially selected to the Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) in 1988 and came to join IRSS Group A with effect from 22.01.1990. At the relevant time, he was working as Director, Railway Stores (W) in the Railway Board, and was allotted house No.302/2A, Chelmsford Road, New Delhi vide allotment letter dated 22.07.2008. The applicant came on deputation to RITES, a Public Sector Undertaking of the Indian Railways, on 17.02.2011 and joined there as General Manager (MSM) w.e.f. 26.04.2011. He relinquished charge of Director Railway Stores (W) on 25.04.2011, and sought permission for retention of the house as mentioned above, and requested for advising RITES to offer one flat belonging to it in exchange of aforesaid flat with the Railway Board. It is the case of the applicant that in view of the policy of exchange of flats, the Railways and the MRVC, another Railway PSU, have exchanged 23 quarters and that the respondents have permitted such exchange. In the case of the applicant, however, his request has been declined vide impugned order dated 04.08.2011. This is the order under challenge in the present Original Application filed by the applicant under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985. 2. There would be no need to give the facts in detail as the matter, as appears to us, is based upon policy/instructions dated 01.11.2010 (Annexure8 colly.), which are not in dispute. The said policy/instructions read as follows: Sub: Retention of Railway accommodation in the event of deputation to PSUs. The instructions issued earlier vide letters of even number dated 22022010 and 10082010 in regard to retention of quarters at previous places of postings by officers/staff on deputation to Railway PSUs have been reviewed by the Board and it has been decided that retention of Railway accommodation by the Railway officers/staff on deputation to CONCOR, CRIS, IRCON, IRCTC, IRFC, KRCL, MRVC, RVNL, RCIL, RITES, DFCCIL and RLDA be permitted up to 30062013 or whenever their own quarters become available, whichever is earlier. The employees on deputation to IRCON and RITES will continue to be governed by the instructions contained at Para 4 of Board's letter No.E(G) 2006 QRl14(A) dated 20112006. This issues with the concurrence of Finance Directorate of Ministry of Railways. 3. Pursuant to notice issued by this Tribunal, the respondents have entered appearance and by filing their counter reply, without denying the existence of the policy/instructions as extracted above, yet contested the cause of the applicant by stating that the request for mutual exchange of houses was examined in detail and it was decided that the proposal could not be agreed to on the ground that Ashok Vihar is at a long distance from Rail Bhawan, and commuting would be a big problem for Railway Board officers. It is pleaded that no Railway Board officer would like to occupy the flat at such an isolated location as the Railway Board transit flats are located in nearby areas of Rail Bhawan, such as Chelmsford Road, P. K. Road, S. P. Marg, Sarojini Nagar, etc. The intent of the facility of mutual exchange of houses as provided in the letter of Ministry of Railways dated 30.11.2010 (AnnexureVI), it is further pleaded, is for the convenience of two allottees whose request for mutual exchange of houses is received through their respective departments, and which can be considered. It is the case of the respondents that the guidelines of nodal Ministry, i.e., Ministry of Urban Development, Directorate of Estates, as available on their website, provide that for personal convenience of two allottees, mutual exchange of accommodations is permitted on request received from both allottees through their departments. Such exchange, it is pleaded, would, however, be permissible only in case both the residences are in the same type/category and locality/floor, and the officers are reasonably expected to be on duty in Delhi and to reside in their mutually exchanged residences for at least six months, and, therefore, the proposal of RITES fo