Hyderabad ESIC Professor Need Not Join Bengal Posting Until National Litigation Committee Reviews His Transfer Case, CAT Says

In brief

The question

1. Whether the applicant’s transfer from Sanathnagar to Joka should be set aside as illegal or arbitrary, having regard to the transfer policy and the circumstances raised by the applicant.

The court held

The Tribunal did not set aside the transfer or determine its legality.

It also directed

It disposed of the OA by directing the applicant to submit a detailed representation within seven days of receiving the order; the matter was to be placed before the National Litigation Committee, which was to provide a personal hearing and decide the case within 30 days of receiving the representation. Interim protection from joining at Joka was to continue until the exercise was completed and the decision communicated to the applicant. There was no order as to costs.

01Facts

The applicant, a Professor and Head of General Surgery at ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Sanathnagar, challenged an order dated 16 July 2026 transferring him to ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Joka, West Bengal.

pp. 2–5

He relied on his daughter’s ongoing cardiac treatment, his wife’s posting at Nalgonda, his responsibilities supervising postgraduate students, and alleged non-compliance with the ESIC transfer policy. The respondents stated that the transfer formed part of a wider faculty deployment to address staffing deficiencies and meet NMC requirements. After the Telangana High Court extended interim protection from joining Joka until disposal of this OA, the applicant pursued the matter before the Tribunal.

pp. 2–5

02Issues

i.1. Whether the applicant’s transfer from Sanathnagar to Joka should be set aside as illegal or arbitrary, having regard to the transfer policy and the circumstances raised by the applicant.

pp. 2–5

ii.2. Whether the applicant’s personal and professional circumstances warranted protection from joining at Joka pending reconsideration of his case.

pp. 3–6

03Law Applied

The parties relied on the ESIC Policy for Transfer/Posting of Medical Officers dated 16 December 2024: the applicant contended that it prescribed an Annual General Transfer process, while the respondents submitted that it permitted transfers during the year in the public interest or for administrative exigencies, subject to approval by the Competent Authority.

p. 3, 5

The Tribunal made no determination on the policy’s application or on the legality of the transfer; it instead directed an independent administrative reconsideration of the applicant’s case.

p. 6

04Reasoning

The Tribunal recorded the competing considerations: the respondents’ stated need to address faculty shortages and NMC requirements, and the applicant’s family medical circumstances, academic responsibilities, and transfer-policy objections.

pp. 5–6

Rather than adjudicating the merits of those contentions, it afforded the applicant an opportunity to submit a detailed representation with supporting documents and required the National Litigation Committee to consider the matter independently, after a personal hearing and without being influenced by the earlier transfer order.

p. 6