Municipal Corporation Employees Can Only Be Sent To Other Corporations On Deputation, Not By Transfer Order: High Court
The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that under Sections 58(5) and 58(6) of the Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956, an employee of one Municipal Corporation can be sent to another Corporation only on deputation or while retaining lien, and not through a pure transfer order. The Court observed that where an order neither places the employee on deputation nor protects his lien in...
The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that under Sections 58(5) and 58(6) of the Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956, an employee of one Municipal Corporation can be sent to another Corporation only on deputation or while retaining lien, and not through a pure transfer order. The Court observed that where an order neither places the employee on deputation nor protects his lien in the parent corporation, it is contrary to the statutory scheme governing inter-corporation transfers.
Justice Bibhu Datta Guru was hearing a writ petition challenging an order transferring the petitioner, an Assistant Engineer serving in the Municipal Corporation, Raipur, to the Municipal Council, Akaltara, on the ground of administrative exigency. During the hearing, the petitioner contended that Sections 58(5) and 58(6) of the Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act did not permit a direct transfer from one municipal body to another and relied upon decisions of the Madhya Pradesh High Court interpreting analogous provisions. The petitioner also cited personal hardships, including his mother's ill health and the difficulties arising from his transfer to a place approximately 150 kilometres away.
The State and the Municipal Corporation opposed the petition, contending that Section 58(5) empowered the State Government to transfer officers and servants from one Municipal Corporation to another and that Section 58(6) safeguarded their lien, pay and allowances.
Upon examining the impugned order, the Court found that the petitioner had been transferred from the Municipal Corporation, Raipur, to the Municipal Council, Akaltara, by way of a simple transfer order. It held that a proper reading of Sections 58(5) and 58(6) of the 1956 Act required such movement to be effected only by way of deputation or by preserving the employee's lien in the parent establishment.
Since the impugned order was neither a deputation order nor one preserving lien, it was held contrary to the statutory provisions and could not be sustained.
“… transfer can be made only on deputation or having taken lien, whereas in the present case, the order impugned is purely a transfer order. Hence, on this ground alone, transfer of the petitioner is contrary to the provisions of the Act, 1956,” the Court observed.
Accordingly, the Court allowed the writ petition and quashed the transfer order.
Case Title: Mohammad Wasim Khan v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. [W.P.(S) No. 5385 of 2026]