Kanoon Ki Dastak
In a significant judgment reinforcing the administrative discretion of the government in service matters, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu has quashed an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu Bench, which had directed the School Education Department to allow a teacher, Wajid Ali Khan, to continue marking attendance and perform duties at Government High School (GHS) Manjakote.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Sindhu Sharma and Justice Shahzad Azeem, while allowing plea, held that the Tribunal’s order dated 09.08.2024 was legally unsustainable and passed merely on presumptions, without any indication of mala fide action or violation of statutory provisions by the authorities.
The case arose after Wajid Ali Khan, originally appointed as an ReT Teacher in MS Chakli and later regularized as a General Line Teacher, was shifted to GHS Manjakote under the Rationalization Policy issued by the government in 2022. Following a subsequent order in August 2024 that redefined the authority for staff rationalization, the Joint Director of School Education, Rajouri/Poonch, sought details of deployments made without prior approval, prompting Khan to approach the Tribunal.
The High Court, however, observed that the Tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction by interfering in a matter based on “mere apprehensions” and without any actual adverse order against the respondent. “There is no order suggesting that the respondent was transferred or restrained from discharging his duties,” the Court noted, emphasizing that government employees cannot claim a vested right to a particular posting.
Citing Supreme Court precedents, including National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. v. Shri Bhagwan and State of U.P. v. Gobardhan Lal, the Court reiterated that transfer and postings fall within the employer’s domain and judicial review is limited unless mala fide or illegality is established.
Setting aside the CAT’s order, the Court dismissed the original application and restored the School Education Department’s liberty to proceed with rationalization in the best interest of institutional functioning.