PANKAJ JAIN, J

1. Petitioner herein prays for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari seeking quashing of the order dated 18.04.2023 (Annexure P-4) passed by respondent No.2-DGP, Punjab whrereby petitioner has been transferred from Batala to Ludhiana.

2. Petitioner is working as Constable in Batala.

3. To support his contention, learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon order passed by this Court in CWP No.23437 of 2022 titled as Sucha Singh Vs. The State of Punjab & ors., decided on 10.03.2023. In that case respondent-department in the reply justified nonpayment of salary claiming that since petitioner had been adjusted at Batala on his request beyond sanctioned strength he was asked to furnish affidavit that he will not claim salary and will also not approach Court of law. Thus he having furnished affidavit is not entitled for the salary. Taking serious note of the aforesaid practice in the Department, Director General of Police was directed to file affidavit to explain such practice. The department thereafter took a policy decision to not resort to such practice and to keep the police personnels employed only within the sanctioned strength.

4. As a fall out of the aforesaid policy it seems that the present petitioner who is working in Batala beyond sanctioned strength has been ordered to be transferred vide impugned order Annexure P-4. The impugned order reads as under :-

“Sub: Reg. Adjustment of salaries and transfer/posting of Constables of District Batala and Gurdaspur.

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Please refer to subject cited above.

2. During CWP-23437-2022, filed by SI/LR (Constable) Sucha Singh No. 557/PTK (Now 2941/BTL), It came to the notice of this office that in some districts, the police offices had received affidavits from certain police officials that due to their personal problems, they may be transferred to/retained in a particular district, and that these requests were considered on humanitarian grounds, but some of these officials could not draw salary due to insufficient vacancies for adjustment of salaries.

3. Subsequently, this office issued instructions vide order no.3471-3570/E-2(4), dated 07.03.2023 not to demand or accept any kind of such affidavits which are against the service rules and settled principals of law. Further, it was directed that all transfers and postings must be done strictly in accordance with the rules and guidelines issued in this regard.

4. Now, this office has received requests from districts Batala and Gurdaspur informing that there are 22 such police officials in district Batala and 46 in district Gurdaspur, who are working in these districts without drawing pay, as there was no vacancy available in their ranks in these districts, since the date of their joining in the respective districts. These transfers were done much before the guidelines prohibiting such a practice were issued by this office on 07.03.2023. Therefore, keeping in view, the welfare of the employees and the hardships faced by the aforementioned police officials due to non-payment of salaries, their salaries may be adjusted against vacancies in higher ranks, as per availability from their dates of Joining in the respective districts as per the Annexures A & B enclosed.

5. Although, as a one-time relief measure, the salaries of these officials may be drawn against vacant posts in higher ranks, however, it is unviable in the long run, because these vacant posts of higher ranks may be filled by transfers/promotions and there may not be sufficient vacancies left to adjust their salaries in the same district. As a result, these police officials may again face difficulty in drawing salaries in time. Therefore, considering the welfare of these police officials and to ensure that they are given salaries in time, these police officials are hereby transferred from districts Batala and Gurdaspur to Police Commissionerate, Ludhiana:

DISTRICT BATALA
SR.NO.	RANK &NAME	OLD BELT NO.	Transferred
·	SR/CT JAGJIT SINGH	1663/JAL	CP/LUDHIANA
·	L/CT MANPREET KAUR	669/ASR-C	CP/LUDHIANA
·	L/CT MANDEEP KAUR	3928/ASR	CP/LUDHIANA
·	CT ARSHDIP SINGH	307/PTK	CP/LUDHIANA
·	L/CT RAVINDER KAUR	995/JAL	CP/LUDHIANA
·	SR/CT GAIN SINGH	1783/JAL	CP/LUDHIANA
·	ASI/LR JUGRAJ SINGH	396/ASR	CP/LUDHIANA
·	ASI/LR SUCHA SINGH	1086/ASR	CP/LUDHIANA
·	HC/PR SURJIT SINGH	1301/JAL	CP/LUDHIANA
·	CT BALDEV SINGH	4134/LDH	CP/LUDHIANA
·	SI/LR BALJINDER SINGH	560/PTK	CP/LUDHIANA
·	CT GURPANTHJIT SINGH	172/PTK	CP/LUDHIANA
·	ASI/LR SUKHJIT SINGH	573/LDH	CP/LUDHIANA
·	SI/LR GURCHARANJIT SINGH	663/PTK	CP/LUDHIANA
·	ASI/LR BALWINDER SINGH	320/ASR-C	CP/LUDHIANA
·	CT RANJIT SINGH	1677/JAL	CP/LUDHIANA
·	CT SARWAN SINGH	1682/JAL	CP/LUDHIANA
·	L/CT HARPREET KAUR	3663/ASR	CP/LUDHIANA
·	CT SAJANPREET SINGH	1838/JAL	CP/LUDHIANA
·	SR/CT JATINDERBIR SINGH	2271/ASR	CP/LUDHIANA
·	SR/CT HARPAL SINGH	1510/JAL-R	CP/LUDHIANA
·	SI/LR HARJIT SINGH	732/PTK	CP/LUDHIANA

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5. Learned counsel for the petitioner has not been able to point out any violation of rule while passing the impugned order. By now it is well settled that transfer is an incidence of service. Orders of transfer are open to interference only when such orders have been passed in malafide exercise of power, in violation of any statutory provision or have been issued by an authority not having the jurisdiction to direct such transfer. Matters of transfer/posting are best left to the judgment of the employer. Reference in this regard can be made to judgment rendered by Apex Court in Union of India Vs. S.L.Abbas (1993) 4 SCC 357.

6. There being no vested right in the petitioner to continue at Batala and order having been passed by competent authority in order to weed out an illegal practice of keeping the personnels beyond sanctioned strength without salary, no ground for interference is made out.

7. Consequently, present writ petitions are dismissed.