Irregularity In Paying Travelling Allowance Does Not Impact Legality Of Employee's Transfer Order: Rajasthan High Court

A division bench led by Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati of the Rajasthan High Court has held that the determination of the admissibility of travelling allowance shall not be construed as a non-curable defect in the transfer order of an employee.

The Court was hearing an appeal filed by a government employee (appellant) who was transferred to another place without being paid the travelling allowance. The counsel for the appellant argued that Rule 17 of the Rajasthan Travelling Allowance Rules 1971 (“the Rules”) provides for travelling allowance to a government servant who was transferred from one station to another and such entitlement was denied to the appellant.

“The admissibility of travelling allowance is a separate component, which would not impact the legality of the transfer order, and any irregularity in admissibility of the travelling allowance would always be an issue, which can be cured at any point of time, in accordance with the (Rajasthan Travelling Allowance) Rules 1971. The determination of the admissibility of travelling allowance shall not be construed as a non-curable defect in the transfer order”, it held.

The additional advocate general contended that not granting travelling allowance could at best be considered an irregularity, curable at any point, and the state had already been instructed to pay the same to the appellant.

The Court considered the arguments on both sides observed that the legality of a transfer order did not get affected by the denial of travelling allowance. The latter was a distinct component and any irregularity on that front could be cured at any point of time.

In this background, the Court stated that since the state was ready to pay the travelling allowance to the appellant, the appeal could be disposed of.

Accordingly, the Court disposed of the appeal while directing the state to pay the travelling allowance to the appellant in accordance with Rule 17 of the Rules.

Title: Suraj Mal Maliwal v the Director, Directorate of Ayurved Department Government of Rajasthan, Ajmer

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 124

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