Transfer and relieving orders kept in abeyance pending consideration of the employee’s representation.

The applicant, a Senior Superintendent at the Regional Passport Office, Thiruvananthapuram, challenged a transfer order dated 7 October 2026 and the consequential relieving order issued that day.

She relied on her husband being bedridden; an earlier order had assigned her duties at Kollam for four weeks.

The applicant sought interim relief, which the respondents opposed.

The Tribunal recorded that the relieving order had been issued the evening before the hearing.

1. Whether the applicant should be directed to first submit a representation concerning her transfer and relieving, for consideration by the competent authority.

2. Whether the transfer and relieving orders should remain operative while that representation was pending and shortly after the decision was communicated.

The Tribunal cited no statute, precedent, or specific legal doctrine.

It directed the applicant to pursue a representation and required the competent authority to consider and decide it expeditiously, while temporarily keeping the challenged orders in abeyance.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant’s stated ground was that her husband was bedridden and that she had been relieved only the previous evening.

In view of those circumstances, the Tribunal directed her to submit a representation within three days and required the competent authority to decide it within ten days of receipt.

To preserve the position pending that consideration, the Tribunal kept the transfer and relieving orders in abeyance until the decision was considered, communicated, and three days had elapsed thereafter.

The transfer order, insofar as it related to the applicant, and the relieving order were to remain in abeyance until the decision was considered and communicated and for three days thereafter.

The applicant’s right to return to the Tribunal if the decision was adverse was reserved; no costs were ordered.