Chandigarh: Central Administrative Tribunal stays transfer order of former DEO Anujit Kaur, asks UT for reply

Kaur had also sought for the issuance of directions to the UT Education department to consider and promote her as DEO, in accordance with the Punjab Educational Service (School and Inspection General Cadre) Group A Services Rules, 2018, read with Punjab Educational Service (School and Inspection) (Class-II), Rules, 1976, as applicable to UT Chandigarh with all the consequential benefits, and also not to post her to ex-cadre post of DDAE or Deputy Director Vocational Education (DDVE), without her consent.

Kaur had said that she was appointed as Deputy District Education Officer (DDEO) on September 22, 2016, and worked upto November 24, 2017, when she was promoted to the post of DEO. Kaur alleged that despite the availability of eligible candidates in feeder cadre, no meeting of DPC was convened and instead adjustment or transfer orders were issued, posting the incumbents as DEO, without any remuneration.

According to the Punjab Educational Service (School and Inspection General Cadre) Group A Service, Rules 2018 applicable to UT, the post is to be filled-up 100 per cent by promotion from among DDEOs and the Principals of Government Senior Secondary Schools. Kaur claimed in her petition that she was the senior most eligible candidate in the feeder cadre for promotion to the post of DEO, which she had been occupying since November 24, 2017. Further, she had submitted a representation for the promotion in August 2019, but to no avail. While in October 2019, the Education department had sought to transfer her from the post of DEO to an ex-cadre post of DDVE/DDAE and to post Alka Mehta as the DEO, who was alleged to be a junior to her, against which she had submitted a representation on October 9, 2019.

The UT Education department Nodal Officer, Arvind Moudgil in his reply, said that the petition by Kaur was infructuous in the view of the order which transferred her, as Alka Mehta had joined the post of DEO on November 27, 2019.

It was also argued that the pay scales of all the three posts which was DDEO-II, DDEO-I and DEO were the same, and therefore, inter-changeable, considering the exigencies of work and administrative grounds. He had further said that they had the same feeder cadre and the salary of the posts was being met from the state budget of UT Chandigarh, and thus, the relief sought could not be granted.

The counsel for Kaur pleaded that she would suffer irreparable loss and injury as she would be forced to perform her duties against a post which was not equivalent to the post of DDE, earlier held by her.

The sequence of events showed that the UT Education department officials were hell-bent to defeat the claim of applicants for an interim relief and in undue haste had passed the shifting orders on November 26, 2019, when the applicant was on leave. The tribunal thus stayed the transfer order passed by the UT Education department and directed the later to file a reply within four weeks.