Karnataka HC Upholds Sericulture Manager’s Bengaluru-To-Vijayapura Transfer After Minimum Tenure, As General Transfers Need No CM Approval

The petitioner, a Gazetted Manager-II in the Sericulture Department, was posted to the Directorate of Sericulture in Bengaluru on 1 September 2022.

By transfer notification dated 2 June 2025, he was transferred to Vijayapura, Devanahalli Taluk, and respondent No. 5 was posted to Bengaluru.

The petitioner challenged the transfer before the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, contending that it lacked the approval required by the transfer guidelines dated 12 May 2025.

The Tribunal dismissed his application on 26 March 2026.

The petitioner then sought relief under Article 227 of the Constitution.

While the writ petition was pending, an interim stay of the transfer was granted, following which he returned to duty in Bengaluru.

The Court applied the principles that transfer is an incident of service and that a government servant has no right to remain in a particular post, particularly after completing the applicable tenure.

Tenure is subject to the conditions in the transfer guidelines and administrative exigencies.

Under the guidelines dated 12 May 2025, as applied by the Court, a transfer made during the general transfer period did not require the Chief Minister’s approval; the Court also accepted that the concerned Minister had approved the transfer.

The judgment cites no statute or judicial precedent as the basis for these principles.

The Court found that the petitioner had completed the minimum tenure at the Bengaluru Directorate by the time the impugned transfer was issued.

As the transfer occurred during the general transfer period, the Court held that Chief Ministerial approval was unnecessary; it also accepted the State’s submission that the concerned Minister had approved the notification.

The petitioner therefore had no right to continue in Bengaluru, and the Court found no basis to disturb the Tribunal’s decision.