Observing that “the Governor desiring a particular person in a particular post for a particular period can’t be the ground to transfer/retain him by setting aside an order by a competent authority”, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Friday ordered that the original order posting an IFS officer as Joint Director of Social Forestry at Nagpur be implemented.

“The office of the Hon’ble Governor may not have the means to know exactly the administrative requirements of posting of particular officers and the comparative competence of peer officers,” CAT Bombay bench chairman Jog Singh observed in his judgment on the application moved by RN Rai.

Rai was Conservator of Forest (Research) in Chandrapur and was transferred as SFD Joint Director on July 13. Jarnail Singh, who has been holding the post for over a year, was shifted to Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) as regional manager on July 13.

Singh, however, refused to hand over the charge and produced another government order dated August 17 to the effect that he (Singh) will continue to hold the charge. The second government letter was issued following a letter to Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) JP Dange from Governor’s secretary Shrikant Deshpande on July 13 to the effect that Governor SC Jamir desired that Jarnail Singh should continue in the office for at least two more years since he has shown keen interest in implementing the biodiversity project on the Raj Bhavan premises.

Rai had moved the CAT, which had issued an interim order on August 18, stating he be allowed to hold charge. Singh, however, refused to honour the CAT order and continued to hold the post.

... contd.