V. K. Bali, J. - (1.) Mohd. Sabir, presently posted as Estate Officer with the Punjab Wakf Board through present writ filed by him under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, seeks setting aside order, Annexure P-1 vide which he was ordered to be transferred from Amritsar to Batala by the Administrator.
(2.) Even though there are allegations made against respondent Nos. 3, 4 and 5 showing that the impugned order had been passed on account of the fact that the persons mentioned above were hostile to petitioner for various reasons that have been detailed in the petition but the matter has almost been exclusively argued on legal point. The contention of learned counsel appearing for the petitioner is that the appointments and transfers of the officers of the Punjab Wakf Board are governed by Punjab Wakf Regulations, 1966. Regulation 24 dealing with the matter is reproduced as under:- "24:- Appointing Authority:- Section 68(2)(e):- (1) Appointments to posts under the Board shall be made by the authorities specified below:- XX XX XX XX (3) All orders of postings and transfers of Class I employees shall be made by the Chairman and those of Class II by the Secretary with the approval of the Chairman and of Class III by the Secretary." A perusal of the Regulations 24, reproduced above, would clearly show that all orders of transfers and posting of Class I employees shall be made by the Chairman and those of Class II employees by the Secretary with the approval of the Chairman. Petitioner is admittedly a Class I officer and his order of posting or transfer has been passed by the Administrator. This point has been taken for the first time in the replication, but the respondent Wakf Board filed rejoinder to the same. The fact that power to transfer Class I officer vests in Chairman and not with the Administrator has not been denied by the respondents. The impugned order is, however, sought to be supported on the ground that the matter only pertains to the transfer which has been ordered on administrative ground and thus, should not be interfered by this Court in its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
(3.) After hearing learned counsel for the parties and going through the records of the case, I am of the considered view that this petition deserves to be allowed. It is settled law that transfer order can be challenged either on proved mala fides or on departmental Rules governing the transfer. In the present case, Regulations 24(3) of the Punjab Wakf Rules, 1966 deals with the powers of Chairman to post and transfer Class I officers. With regard to Class I employees it is admitted position that the Chairman is the competent authority to transfer. Transfer order in the present case was passed by the Administrator and the same is, thus against the regulation 24 of the Punjab Wakf Regulations, 1966. For the reasons stated above, this petition is allowed and impugned order (Annexure P-1) is quashed. There shall be no order as to costs.;