BENGALURU: After facing the wrath of the court for premature transfer of officials, particularly the Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs), the state government on Monday informed the Karnataka High Court that no government servant would be transferred prematurely in contravention of the transfer guidelines. A circular dated January 27, 2018 to that effect has been placed before the division bench of Acting Chief Justice HG Ramesh and Justice PS Dinesh Kumar by Additional Advocate General AS Ponnanna on behalf of the state government.
This was in response to the instructions sought by the court from the chief secretary whether the government is still transferring the officials arbitrarily or not, while hearing the petition challenging the premature transfer of a Panchayat Development Officer in Ramanagara.Extracting the Para-9 of the transfer guidelines in the circular, the government stated that before effecting any premature transfer of government servants, prior approval of the Chief Minister must be obtained without fail by the concerned administrative department of the Secretariat, if the transfers are to be made beyond the general transfer period.
“The principal secretaries/secretaries to government should not under any circumstances issue transfer orders and later seek ratifications/post facto approval of the chief minister. Any violation shall be viewed seriously and the person responsible will be made accountable”, the circular said. During the hearing of transfer of a PDO, the court pulled up the state government for violating its own guidelines issued in 2013. The court took serious exception to the arbitrary transfer of officials and observed that it reflects the lawlessness in the state.
