University Unit-I employees cannot be transferred to constituent colleges under the applicable service regulations.

The petitioner was initially appointed pursuant to the University’s advertisement dated 18 October 2001 and, by Office Order No. 171 dated 5 June 2003, was appointed as an Assistant in the University office.

He was subsequently absorbed in the regular services of the University with effect from 5 June 2003 and was later redesignated from Storekeeper to Assistant.

During service, he was posted or deputed at various University departments and constituent colleges, including S.S.V. College, Murarka College, the Department of Angika, and S.M. College.

By Office Order No. 61/2022 dated 10 June 2022, he was transferred from S.M. College, Bhagalpur, to Murarka College, Sultanganj, on the ground of administrative exigency.

The High Court stayed the operation of the transfer order during the pendency of the writ petition and directed that the petitioner be permitted to work at his previous place of posting and draw salary.

The petitioner contended that University-office employees and employees of constituent colleges belonged to separate cadres or units and that he could not be transferred from the University establishment to a constituent college. The University maintained that Murarka College was his parent place of appointment and that the transfer was permissible under the applicable service regulations.

1. Whether the petitioner was an employee of the University establishment, or whether his parent place of appointment was Murarka College, Sultanganj.

2. Whether a University employee could be transferred from the University office or its allied establishments to a constituent college under the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976 and the Service Regulations notified on 4 March 2014.

3. Whether Office Order No. 61/2022 dated 10 June 2022 transferring the petitioner from S.M. College to Murarka College was lawful.

The Court applied the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976, including the Vice-Chancellor’s statutory powers under Section 10, while holding that such general powers could not override the applicable service framework.

It relied on the Service Conditions Regulations for Class III and Class IV employees of Universities in Bihar, notified on 4 March 2014. Clause 8(X)(C) permits a University employee to be transferred to a Unit, University department, or establishment/organisation within the University’s jurisdiction on a similar post; Clause 10 treats the University office, allied offices, postgraduate departments, postgraduate centres and related establishments as Unit-I, while constituent colleges and their establishments constitute Unit-II.

The governing rule is that employees may be transferred within their respective cadre or unit, but not from Unit-I to Unit-II or vice versa.

The Court also considered Manan Singh v. B.N. Mandal University, Rajendra Nath Bhuwan v. B.N. Mandal University, Ram Subhak Singh v. B.R.A. Bihar University, and Prashant Kumar Suman v. Vice-Chancellor, L.N. Mithila University, which held, on the facts and rules applicable in those cases, that constituent-college employees did not form a common cadre with University employees.

The Court distinguished those authorities because they preceded the 2014 Service Regulations.

The Court found that the documentary record supported the petitioner’s status as an employee of the University establishment. His absorption order dated 27 May 2006 described him as absorbed in the regular services of the University, and the University failed to produce supporting material for its assertion that his parent appointment was at Murarka College.

The subsequent correction of his post from Storekeeper to Assistant also reflected his placement in the University establishment.

Although the University relied on the petitioner’s earlier service at a college and on administrative exigency, the Court held that the decisive consideration was the applicable 2014 Service Regulations, not merely the Vice-Chancellor’s general administrative or disciplinary powers.

Under those Regulations, University establishments constituted Unit-I and constituent colleges constituted Unit-II; transfer across the two units was impermissible. Accordingly, the petitioner could be posted within the University and its allied offices, but not in a constituent college.

Office Order No. 61/2022 dated 10 June 2022 transferring him from S.M. College, Bhagalpur, to Murarka College, Sultanganj, was therefore set aside as illegal and beyond the University’s statutory and regulatory authority.

The University was directed to post the petitioner in the University or its allied offices falling within Unit-I, with immediate effect, and to pay his salary.

The writ petition was allowed; pending applications, if any, were disposed of.