Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Dec 18: The state high court (HC) has expressed dismay at the practice of recommendation letters issued by chief minister, minister, and legislators, for transfer of officials. It has observed that transfers based on recommendation letters are against law.

The court was, on Tuesday December 17, hearing a case relating to the transfer of an executive engineer of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). "This is a fit case for censuring all the concerned and imposing penalty on them. But we do not want to do that. Therefore, we ask the concerned to behave themselves and stay within their limits. Such illegal transfers should not recur," the court warned.

The high court came out with this all important order when referring to a letter addressed to the chief minister by a union minister and approval given by the chief minister for this recommendation for transfer of an executive engineer of BBMP.

The high court passed this order when hearing a petition filed by aggrieved BBMP Hebbal zone executive engineer K M Vasu, who knocked at its door seeking to cancel his transfer order. Justice Krishna S Dixit, who heard the petition, not only cancelled his transfer order, but also directed the BBMP commissioner and deputy commissioner (administration) to retain the petitioner in his current place of work.