HC Quashes Sukhu Govt Order to Transfer Executive Engineer at Fag End of Service
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Shimla, Oct 28,
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has quashed a transfer order issued by the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government, terming it unjustified and arbitrary, as it sought to transfer an Executive Engineer to a hard and tribal area despite his nearing retirement.
Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, while pronouncing the judgment in CWP No. 11780 of 2025 (Vinod Kumar Gupta vs State of H.P. and another), held that the transfer notification dated July 18, 2025, was unsustainable in law. The court observed that the petitioner, Vinod Kumar Gupta, who is serving as an Executive Engineer in the Public Works Department (PWD), had already completed a tenure in a hard and tribal area — Kaza Division — between 1991 and 1995.
The petitioner challenged the fresh transfer order posting him to HPPWD Division Pangi, contending that he could not be asked to serve in another hard and tribal region at the fag end of his service. The High Court had earlier stayed the operation of the notification on July 23, 2025, pending adjudication.
In its final judgment, the court noted that the State had failed to justify the transfer, particularly when the petitioner was only eight months away from superannuation, due on June 30, 2026. It also highlighted that the government’s reply did not dispute the petitioner’s previous service in a hard area or allege any undue influence in his present posting.
Quashing the transfer order, the court allowed the writ petition and directed that the July 18 notification be set aside in respect of the petitioner.
The court also disposed of all pending miscellaneous applications along with the main petition.
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