Allahabad High Court's big decision: Junior teachers get relief, state's transfer policy cancelled

INDC Network: Uttar Pradesh: Relief for junior teachers: High Court cancels transfer policy

Giving a big relief to thousands of junior teachers of primary schools in Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has quashed the transfer policy implemented by the state government. This policy was introduced in June 2024 with the objective of balancing the teacher-student ratio, in which teachers were to be transferred on the basis of length of service. The court termed this policy as arbitrary and discriminatory and found it against the Service Rules and Article-14 of the Constitution.

Review and adjudication of government orders

A bench of Justice Manish Mathur gave this decision while hearing the writ petitions filed by 21 other teachers including Pushkar Singh Chandel. In these petitions, various clauses of the government order issued on 26 June 2024 and the circular dated 28 June 2024 were challenged. Counsel for the petitioners, Senior Advocate H.G.S. Parihar, U.N. Mishra and Sudeep Seth argued that according to this policy, only newly appointed teachers are being transferred, while senior teachers remain in their permanent posts.

Arguments of Petitioners: Allegation of disparity in policy

The petitioners, in their submissions, said that following the transfer policy, only those teachers who have recently been appointed in the school are transferred. When such newly appointed teachers are sent to another school, they have to face repeated transfers due to their shorter service period. The lawyers argued that the policy violates the teachers' service rules and treats their fundamental rights unequally.

The state government's argument and the court's decision

It was argued on behalf of the State Government that the transfer policy is necessary to maintain the teacher-student ratio and the petitioners have no right to challenge it. However, the court rejected this argument saying that there was no clear basis in the government order that justified the transfer policy based on length of service. The court found that as per the policy, junior teachers face frequent transfers, while senior teachers remain in place.

Violation of Article 14 of the Constitution

The court made it clear that this policy is not in line with Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to equality. The court also said that if this policy is continued, junior teachers will always be accommodated through transfers, while senior teachers will remain fixed.

• After this decision, the transfer policy of the state government may have to be amended to ensure equal treatment of all teachers. This judgment of the Allahabad High Court is a big relief for the teachers and it shows that it is mandatory to make policies following the service rules and the constitution.