Employee Cannot Object When Transfer Is Made On Account Of Administrative Exigencies: Allahabad High Court
Contents News/Article Date: 6th November 2023
Relating to which Act: The Indian Constitution grants the Central and state governments the powers to enact laws to protect the employees and foster a professional work environment. Based on the industry, nature of the work, number of employees in the company, location, and more, there are various legislations like the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 (ID Act), Factories Act 1948 (Factories Act), and Shops and Establishment Acts in relevant states (S&E Act).
Applicable to which State: Acts and Rules are applicable to all States
Type: The Allahabad High Court in a writ petition filed by an employee of a bank has held that when the transfer orders are made on account of administrative exigencies, no objection of any employee can be entertained. The said employee had challenged his transfer order from Kanpur to Hardoi.
Pertains to: Senior Advocate Ashutosh Sharma appeared on behalf of the petitioners while Advocate Sunil Kumar Mishra appeared on behalf of the respondents.
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And in this instance: The Allahabad High Court in a writ petition filed by an employee of a bank has held that when the transfer orders are made on account of administrative exigencies, no objection of any employee can be entertained. The said employee had challenged his transfer order from Kanpur to Hardoi. A Single Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar observed, “… when the transfer orders are made on account of administrative exigencies, no objection of any employee can be entertained. When the employee had joined the service, he knew it well that he has joined a transferable job. No employee can claim lien of a particular place. Even the office bearers of the Union are subjected to transfer, if the same is made in administrative exigency and not being made to vindicate their activism or the transfer is made in malafide manner.”
The High Court after hearing the contentions of the counsel said, “A plain reading of the SastryAward lays down that whenever transfer of any office bearers are made, a cry for victimization is also made by the Union. These allegations are easily made but are not sustainable. Transfers are necessary for exigencies of the administration. Transfers are normal incidents of working of the bank and they must be left to the discretion of those who are guided with policy of bank and manage its affairs. Whenever office bearer of a Trade Union is transferred, a suspicion naturally arises and consequences thereof would be industrial dispute and to avoid such disputes certain steps were laid down in the Sastry Award.”
Cause Title – United Forum of We Bankers and Another V. Central Government Industrial Tribunal and Others (Neutral Citation: 2023: AHC:209638)
Subject: Employee Cannot Object When Transfer Is Made On Account of Administrative Exigencies: Allahabad High Court
Appended is the complete news item
Employee Cannot Object When Transfer Is Made On Account of Administrative Exigencies: Allahabad High Court
In a significant judgment, the Allahabad High Court has ruled that transfer orders made on account of administrative exigencies cannot be contested by employees. The ruling came in response to a writ petition filed by an employee of a bank who had challenged his transfer order from Kanpur to Hardoi.
The judgment was delivered by a Single Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar, who emphasized, “When the transfer orders are made on account of administrative exigencies, no objection of any employee can be entertained. When the employee had joined the service, he knew it well that he has joined a transferable job. No employee can claim lien of a particular place. Even the office bearers of the Union are subjected to transfer if the same is made in administrative exigency and not being made to vindicate their activism or the transfer is made in a malafide manner.”
The case in question involved an employee who was also a General Secretary of the Employees’ Union. The employee had initially been posted at Hardoi and subsequently transferred to various branches within Kanpur. The frequent transfers were met with protests and strikes by the Union, leading to conciliation proceedings and modifications of the transfer orders.
However, the bank eventually transferred the employee from Kanpur to Mallawan Branch in Hardoi, resulting in yet another strike notice by the Union. The employee, invoking the provisions of Section 33A of ‘The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947,’ filed a complaint alleging that the transfer was done with malafide intentions and bad motives.
