{"id":126977,"date":"2008-08-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-03T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sobha-mary-alexaner-vs-union-of-india-on-4-august-2008"},"modified":"2014-09-28T23:47:40","modified_gmt":"2014-09-28T18:17:40","slug":"sobha-mary-alexaner-vs-union-of-india-on-4-august-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sobha-mary-alexaner-vs-union-of-india-on-4-august-2008","title":{"rendered":"Sobha Mary Alexaner vs Union Of India on 4 August, 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kerala High Court<\/div>\n
Sobha Mary Alexaner vs Union Of India on 4 August, 2008<\/div>\n
       \n\n  \n\n  \n\n \n \n  IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM\n\nWP(C).No. 22993 of 2008(S)\n\n\n1. SOBHA MARY ALEXANER\n                      ...  Petitioner\n\n                        Vs\n\n\n\n1. UNION OF INDIA\n                       ...       Respondent\n\n2. THE DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGER\n\n3. THE SENIOR DIVISIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER\n\n4. THE CHIEF COMMERCIAL M ANAGER (PS)\n\n5. THE DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGER\n\n6. THE CHIEF COMMERCIAL MANAGER\n\n7. THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL\n\n                For Petitioner  :SRI.N.N.SUGUNAPALAN (SR.)\n\n                For Respondent  :SRI.N.B.SUNIL NATH,SC, RAILWAYS\n\nThe Hon'ble MR. Justice K.BALAKRISHNAN NAIR\nThe Hon'ble MRS. Justice M.C.HARI RANI\n\n Dated :04\/08\/2008\n\n O R D E R\n                      K.BALAKRISHNAN NAIR &\n\n                          M.C.HARI RANI, JJ.\n\n                   -----------------------------------------\n\n                     W.P.(C) NO. 22993 OF 2008-S\n\n                   -----------------------------------------\n\n                         Dated 4th August, 2008.\n\n                               JUDGMENT\n<\/pre>\n
Balakrishnan Nair, J.\n<\/p>\n
     The petitioner was the applicant in O.A.No.102\/2008 before the<\/p>\n
Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam Bench. The respondents<\/p>\n
herein were the respondents in that O.A. The petitioner, who was a<\/p>\n
Commercial Clerk in the Southern Railways working at Kottayam<\/p>\n
under the Thiruvananthapuram Division, was facing disciplinary<\/p>\n
proceedings, involving grave misconduct. Initially, she was suspended<\/p>\n
from service. Later, she was reinstated and thereafter transferred out,<\/p>\n
by Annexure-A1 order, to Palakkad, which is in Palakkad Division.<\/p>\n
The petitioner attacked the said order before the CAT on various<\/p>\n
grounds. The main ground canvassed was the violation of Annexure-<\/p>\n
A5 Rule.   It says    that a     Group C employee facing disciplinary<\/p>\n
proceedings   shall   not,     normally,      be     transferred from one<\/p>\n
WPC 22993\/2008                       2<\/span><\/p>\n
Railway\/Division to another Railway\/Division before the finalisation<\/p>\n
of the disciplinary proceedings. The petitioner also contended that her<\/p>\n
seniority will be affected by the impugned transfer. The respondents<\/p>\n
resisted the application,      relying on Annexure-R1 order, which<\/p>\n
provided that persons facing charges for grave misconduct, like the<\/p>\n
petitioner,  can be transferred out from the parent division.      The<\/p>\n
Tribunal considered the rival contentions and dismissed the O.A. In<\/p>\n
this writ petition, the petitioner has challenged not only Ext.P5 final<\/p>\n
order of the CAT, but also Annexure-R1 order of the Railways.<\/p>\n
      2. The learned senior counsel        Mr.N.N.Sugunapalan,    who<\/p>\n
appeared for the petitioner, submitted that Annexure-A5 is a statutory<\/p>\n
Rule.   So, Annexure-R1 cannot override the same. Secondly, it is<\/p>\n
submitted that if the petitioner is transferred, her seniority will be<\/p>\n
affected. She may become junior to the junior-most in her cadre.<\/p>\n
      3.   Annexure-A5 only says that normally, an employee facing<\/p>\n
disciplinary proceedings may not be transferred out to another<\/p>\n
Railway\/Division. It means that the competent authority has discretion<\/p>\n
in that matter. The Railways have issued Annexure-R1 order, pointing<\/p>\n
WPC 22993\/2008                     3<\/span><\/p>\n
out how that discretion should be exercised. We find that there is<\/p>\n
nothing wrong with the said order. It only gives certain guidelines for<\/p>\n
the competent authority as to how the discretion under Annexure-A5<\/p>\n
should be exercised, while transferring employees, who are facing<\/p>\n
disciplinary action. The second ground regarding loss of seniority is,<\/p>\n
plainly, untenable. A close reading of the impugned order of the CAT<\/p>\n
would show that the said point was not canvassed before the Tribunal.<\/p>\n
Obviously, it was not canvassed, as it was untenable. An incumbent,<\/p>\n
who is transferred out, in exigencies of service, to another division,<\/p>\n
will not lose his seniority.\n<\/p>\n
      In the result, we find no ground to interfere with the impugned<\/p>\n
order. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed.<\/p>\n
                         K.BALAKRISHNAN NAIR, JUDGE.\n<\/p>\n
                         M.C.HARI RANI, JUDGE.\n<\/p>\n
Nm\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kerala High Court Sobha Mary Alexaner vs Union Of India on 4 August, 2008 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM WP(C).No. 22993 of 2008(S) 1. SOBHA MARY ALEXANER … Petitioner Vs 1. UNION OF INDIA … Respondent 2. THE DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGER 3. THE SENIOR DIVISIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER 4. THE CHIEF COMMERCIAL M […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-kerala-high-court"],"yoast_head":"\nSobha Mary Alexaner vs Union Of India on 4 August, 2008 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sobha-mary-alexaner-vs-union-of-india-on-4-august-2008\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sobha Mary Alexaner vs Union Of India on 4 August, 2008 - 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