Medical certificates establishing a family member’s terminal illness may justify transfer protection absent evidence of fabrication.

The petitioner, Girish K.P., challenged the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal’s order allowing Manjunath S.B.’s application against a transfer notification dated 12 June 2026.

Under that notification, Manjunath was transferred from the Public Works Sub-Division, Udupi, to Karkala, and Girish was posted to Udupi.

The Tribunal set aside the transfer insofar as it concerned them, principally because Manjunath’s wife was suffering from cancer and receiving treatment at hospitals in Manipal and Mangalore.

Girish argued that the transfer was not premature and that Karkala was nearer to Mangalore; Manjunath also relied on his impending retirement on 31 May 2027.

Girish then sought relief under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

1. Whether the Tribunal’s decision to set aside the transfer on the ground of Manjunath’s wife’s terminal illness warranted interference in writ jurisdiction.

2. Whether medical certificates not issued by a Medical Board could establish the illness for purposes of the transfer guidelines.

Clause 8(6) of the Government’s transfer guidelines dated 13 April 2026 permits the continuance or transfer of a government servant where a family member suffers from a terminal illness; the clause contemplates production of Medical Board certificates.

The Court held that, where obtaining Medical Board certificates may not be possible in every circumstance, other medical certificates establishing the illness may suffice unless the opposing party shows that they are concocted or fabricated.

The Court also considered Rule 32 of the Karnataka Civil Services Rules in assessing Girish’s service arrangement and whether that arrangement had taken effect.

The medical records showed that Manjunath’s wife was being treated for cancer at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, Father Muller’s Medical College and Hospital, Mangalore, and other hospitals.

Applying clause 8(6), the Court considered those certificates sufficient in the absence of any showing that they were fabricated.

Although the Tribunal had rejected Manjunath’s separate grounds of premature transfer and retirement within two years, it had exercised its discretion on the terminal-illness ground; the Court found no valid reason to disturb that decision.

It also noted that Girish had not been relieved from his Madikeri post or reported to the School Education and Literacy Department, so his Rule 32 arrangement had not taken effect.

It disposed of the writ petition and noted that, under a subsequent notification dated 23 September 2026, Girish had been posted as Assistant Executive Engineer to the PWD D.M.F./K.M.E.R.C. Sub-Division, Kurugod, and was to report there.