Srinagar, Aug 17: The J&K High Court today advised the Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers to not approach courts over transfers unless it affects their status or is in violation of the statutory provision.
The court said we have a ‘sincere advice’ to KAS officers — “they should not move court over transfers unless it affects their status or is in violation of the statutory provision or is mala fide”.
“The junior KAS officers, as the petitioners are, must note and understand that they are the members of premier service which virtually constitutes backbone of bureaucracy of the state, enjoined the task of running the administration at different levels,” a bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar, who heard the petition, said.
The bench reminded the officers to note that they are cadre officers and they can be transferred and posted to any post borne on the cadre of the service and unless their transfer and posting affects their status or is in violation of the statutory provision or is mala fide, they have no cause to approach the court.
The court while dismissing a petition filed by two junior KAS officers, assailing the validity of a government order (No.1237-GAD of 2018 dated 04.08.2018) pleaded that the ground on which they had been transfers was illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the professed policy of the government.
The policy according to the petitioners claimed that the junior KAS officers shall be posted in different departments of the government on rotation and ordinarily shall be allowed to continue for the minimum tenure of two years in a particular department before being shifted to other department.
The court observed that any attempt by the such officers to assail their transfer and posting to the place which they may feel inconvenient for them would only be seen as an endeavor to continue at a particular place of posting indefinitely or till such time they are offered an equally convenient posting.
The judge said “my sincere advice to these officers is to desist from making such attempts, lest an impression would be gathered that they are not interested in the smooth running of the administration but are only keen in a particular type of postings”.
“Least said, the better,” the judge observed.
