Bengal Female Health Assistants’ Home-District Transfer Requests Must Be Considered When Relievers Are Available, Even If They Have Under 3 Years’ Service: Calcutta HC

In brief

The question

Whether completion of three years’ service is a mandatory precondition to a Health Assistant (Female) seeking transfer.

The court held

The writ petition was disposed of with directions that, when relievers or fresh Health Assistants (Female) become available, the authorities consider the petitioners’ transfer requests regardless of whether they have completed three years’ service.

It also directed

The petitioners may submit fresh applications; those unable to use the online portal because of the three-year condition may apply offline.

Applications must be considered in accordance with law and the specified circulars, without treating the directory service requirement as mandatory.

There was no order as to costs.

01Facts

The petitioners, serving as Health Assistants (Female), sought transfers to their home districts of Bankura and Purulia.

¶ 3–6

In an earlier writ petition, the Court had directed the Director of Health Services to consider their requests; the Director rejected them, citing the need to maintain staffing balance across districts and the public interest in ensuring that Sub-Centres were not left without staff.

¶ 3–6

The petitioners challenged that rejection.

¶ 3–6

The Court considered the transfer-related circulars dated 29 January 2024 and 31 July 2026, as well as the parties’ submissions.

¶ 7–9

02Issues

i.Whether completion of three years’ service is a mandatory precondition to a Health Assistant (Female) seeking transfer.

¶ 10

ii.Whether the petitioners’ transfer requests could be considered notwithstanding staffing requirements and the availability of relievers or fresh recruits.

¶ 11–13

03Law Applied

The Court held, consistent with its earlier decisions, that the three-year service requirement in the circular dated 29 January 2024 and the circular dated 31 July 2026 (Memo No. HNG/9T-6A-2015/986) is directory, not mandatory; prior length of service therefore cannot, by itself, disable or disentitle an employee from seeking transfer.

¶ 10

Transfer requests must otherwise be considered in accordance with law and the parameters in those circulars, with due regard to public interest and staffing requirements.

¶ 11–13

04Reasoning

The Court treated the three-year requirement as directory and therefore rejected its use as an absolute bar to consideration of a transfer request.

¶ 10

At the same time, it recognized the State’s concern that Sub-Centres should not be left without Health Assistant (Female) staff.

¶ 11

It accordingly linked consideration of the petitioners’ requests to the availability of relievers or fresh recruits, while directing the authorities to apply the circulars’ relevant parameters without insisting on a criterion already held to be directory.

¶ 12–14

The Court also noted the State’s submission that seniority is preferred when preparing the transfer list.

¶ 12–14