Govt Employee Transferred On Request Can't Claim Existing Seniority In New Post : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court reaffirmed that the transfer of a government employee upon their request cannot be classified as a transfer in public interest. It further held that an employee cannot claim seniority based on their previous position, as seniority resets upon a request-based transfer.

“If a government employee holding a particular post is transferred on public interest, he carries with him his existing status including seniority to the transferred post. However, if an officer is transferred at his own request, such a transferred employee will have to be accommodated in the transferred post, subject to the claims and status of the other employees at the transferred place, as their interests cannot be varied without there being any public interest in the transfer. Subject to specific provision of the Rules governing the services, such transferees are generally placed at the bottom, below the junior-most employee in the category in the new cadre or department.”, the Court observed.

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra heard a case from the Karnataka High Court involving a Staff Nurse (appointed in 1979) who sought a cadre change to First Division Assistant (FDA) in 1985 due to medical ailments. The Medical Board confirmed her incapacity, and she agreed in writing to be placed at the bottom of the new cadre.

The Karnataka Government (1989) approved her transfer, fixing her seniority from 1989 instead of 1979. She challenged this in 2007, arguing her seniority should date back to her original appointment. The Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) and High Court ruled in her favor, citing State of Karnataka v. Sri K. Seetharamulu (2010), which treated medical-based transfers as public interest transfers, allowing retention of original seniority.

Aggrieved by the High Court's decision, the State appealed to the Supreme Court.

Overruling the High Court's decision, the judgment authored by Justice Narasimha held that since the Respondent voluntarily sought the transfer and consented to being placed at the bottom of the new cadre, she cannot claim seniority from her initial appointment date, as this would be unfair to existing employees in the new cadre.

The Court noted that the High Court and Tribunal erred in signifying request-based transfer as a public interest transfer.

“we are of the opinion that the Tribunal as well as the High Court committed an error in directing the appellant to grant seniority to the respondent in the cadre of First Division Assistant with effect from the date in which the said respondent has entered service in the cadre of Staff Nurse from 05.01.1979, instead of 19.04.1989, when she was appointed in the new cadre of First Division Assistant.”, the Court observed.

The Court held that the High Court erred in relying on Sri K. Seetharamulu, stating that it was not correctly decided. Instead, it approved the ruling in M.K. Jagadeesh v. The Registrar General, High Court of Karnataka (2007), which the High Court failed to consider in the present case. In M.K. Jagadeesh, the employee had also given an undertaking in 2000 to be placed at the bottom of the new cadre, and the High Court ruled that seniority should be counted from the date of transfer, not the initial appointment.

Accordingly, the Court allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned decision reckoning the Respondent's seniority from the date of transfer to the new cadre.

Case Title: THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE & ANR. VERSUS K.C. DEVAKI

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 350

Click here to read/download the judgment

Appearance:

For Petitioner(s) :Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR (Arguing Counsel) Mr. Raghavendra M. Kulkarni, Adv. Ms. Mythili S, Adv. Mr. M. Bangaraswamy, Adv. Mr. Venkata Raghu Mannepalli, Adv. Mr. Shiv Kumar, Adv. Ms. Vaishnavi, Adv.

For Respondent(s) :Mr. Himanshu Chaubey, AOR Mr. Siddharth Garg, Adv. (Arguing Counsel) Mr. Himanshu Chaubey, Adv. Mr. Srijan Sinha, Adv. Ms. Lihzu Shiney Konyak, Adv. Mr. Srajan Yadav, Adv.

Related: Transfer Of Govt Employee On Request Can't Be Termed Transfer In Public Interest Or Administrative Exigencies : Supreme Court