Govt refutes all charges

Besides, he contended, several court decisions have upheld that transfer of a government servant cannot be a subject matter of a PIL for citizens.

In their writ petition, Sunanda Das and others alleged that the transfer of Arun Bhatia was in violation of the guidelines. This was denied by Navin Kumar who submitted that these guidelines 8220;may not be followed for administrative reasons8221;.

He quoted a Supreme Court ruling that said: 8220;While ordering the transfer of government employee, there is no doubt, the authority must keep in mind the guidelines issued by the government on the subject, but the said guidelines do not confer upon the government employee a legally enforceable right. Who should be transferred where, is a matter for the appropriate authority to decide8221;.

As regards the 8220;averment8221; in the petitions that as Bhatia was transferred from the post of municipal commissioner, work of demolition of unauthorised structures and collection of property tax arrears will come to an end. 8220;I deny the correctness of the submissions;8221; 8220;I say that the present municipal commissioner is fully competent, and is discharging his statutory responsibilities with due care and diligence8221;.

Navin Kumar in his affidavit also denied 8220;the averments8221; made by another petitioner Nitin Jagtap that the government had violated the provisions of Section 36 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act in Bhatia8217;s transfer from the municipal commissioner8217;s post. 8220;I deny that an officer working as municipal commissioner cannot be transferred during the period of three years8230;I deny that Shri Bhatia has been punished by this transfer merely because he was strict, honest and upright8221;.

The Express Citizen8217;s Forum ECF and others in their separate writ petition had submitted that 8220;from the submission material presented to the court and particularly from the sudden haste with which the chief secretary, without even giving another post to Arun Bhatia, transferred him on a non-working day by a fax message sent to the police commissionerate 8211; which is never the procedure8221; it appeared that the transfer was effected 8220;only with the intention to scuttle the drive which Bhatia was spearheading8221; and that the transfer was not only malafide but was also against public interest.

The ECF also submitted that the new municipal commissioner, Girish Pradhan, is not a suitable officer for a municipal commissioner8217;s post. He does not have a proven record as that of Bhatia 8220;therefore as to why, an IAS officer of the calibre of Bhatia, with a proven performance has been replaced by another person who has no proven performance to his credit, is not clear8221;Asserting that citizens have a cause of action in the matter to file a public interest writ petition, counsel for the ECF A V Anturkar while arguing the matter before their Lordships had cited a Supreme Court ruling regarding N K Singh8217;s transfer from the Central Bureau of Investigation in which the then chief justice of the Supreme Court had ruled that in case of a transfer from a sensitive and responsible post, there is definitely an element of public interest apart from the personal interest of the aggrieved officer.

Referring to these points, Navin Kumar contended that N K Singh matter had no relevance in the present case.

Denying the correctness of the allegation that Pradhan is not suitable for the post, Navin Kumar contended that he had held various 8220;responsible posts8221; since his appointment in the Indian Administrative Service IAS in 1977.

Navin Kumar contended that Pradhan has been discharging his duties under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation BPMC Act, the government secretary presented along with his affidavit, as an annexture, a copy of a letter from the additional municipal commissioner of Pune to the joint secretary in the chief secretary8217;s office in Mantralaya on March 19 reporting that while between March 6, 1999 and March 11, 1999 that is, when Bhatia was the municipal chief, 8220;in all 23,362 sq ft of constructions have been demolished by the encroachment department, from March 13 to March 17 that is, after Pradhan took over, in all 41,777 sq ft of constructions have been demolished8221;.

8220;Thus the construction which has been demolished during the last five days is double that of the demolitions during the five days before that,8221; the additional municipal chief told the CM8217;s office.

Similarly, the additional municipal chief8217;s report said that between March 6 and March 11, an amount of Rs 25.44 lakh was recovered as property tax, the recovery between March 13 and March 17 stood at Rs 34 lakhs. 8220;Thus, in this case too, the recovery during this week is higher by nearly nine lakhs8221;.

8220;The above report is submitted for your information,8221; the additional commissioner concluded, quot;as per the directions of the honourable commissionerquot;.