Executive orders cannot curtail transfer eligibility conferred by statutory service rules.

The respondent, appointed as a Civil Police Constable on 13 March 2008 and promoted to Civil Head Constable on 4 June 2020, served in the Shivamogga District Unit.

He sought transfer to the Vijayanagara District Unit on a couple-case basis, with loss of seniority.

The Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal directed the State authorities to consider his request if a vacancy arose and he was otherwise eligible.

The State challenged that direction, contending that a 15 July 2024 Government Order required seven years’ service in the employee’s current post.

1. Whether the respondent’s eligibility for inter-unit transfer under the Karnataka State Police Department (Transfer) (Special) Rules, 2022 depended on completing seven years’ service in his current post, rather than seven years’ service as a police constable.

2. Whether the Government Order dated 15 July 2024 could impose a post-specific eligibility requirement inconsistent with the Rules, 2022.

The Court applied the Karnataka State Police Department (Transfer) (Special) Rules, 2022, which regulate inter-unit transfers of police personnel.

Rule 3(iii), as referred to in the judgment, requires a police constable to complete a minimum of seven years’ service to seek transfer; the Rules also provide for transfer on a couple-case basis, subject to prescribed conditions, and placement below the last person in the cadre at the receiving unit.

The Court recognised that executive orders may supplement statutory rules where the rules leave a matter unprovided for, but may not contradict the rules or take away a benefit they confer.

The petition was brought under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

The respondent had completed more than seven years’ service as a police constable before seeking transfer.

The State relied on the 15 July 2024 Government Order, which required seven years’ service in the employee’s current post and unit; because the respondent had been promoted to Head Constable in 2020, he had not completed seven years in that post.

The Court held that the Rules measured the required period by service, not service in the current post.

The Government Order’s additional post-specific condition therefore contradicted the Rules and could not displace their effect.

The Court consequently found no basis to interfere with the Tribunal’s direction to consider the transfer request, subject to a vacancy and the respondent’s other eligibility.

It ordered the petitioners to pay costs of Rs. 25,000 to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority within two weeks.