No Transfer Request For Group B Or C Employees Should Be Entertained By CMO; Matter Should End At Dept Level: Karnataka High Court

The High Court also directed that no such requests for posting or transfer should be entertained by the Office of the Chief Minister.

The High Court was considering an intra-court appeal challenging the judgment passed by the Single Judge.

The Division Bench of Justice D K Singh and Justice T.M. Nadaf held, “We are therefore, of the opinion that no request for transfer and posting should be entertained by the Office of the Hon'ble Chief Minister directly. The matter should end at the level of the department itself. Hon'ble Chief Minister has better and more important work to perform than interfering with the transfers and postings of the employees of the State Government and Government undertakings.”

Senior Advocate D. R. Ravi Shankar represented the Petitioner while Advocate Chandrachud A represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The Single Judge in the impugned judgment had highlighted that several letters/orders/approvals are issued by the office of the Chief Minister either transferring group 'B' or 'C' employees thereby undoing the orders of transfers issued by the Official Superiors of such employees. In the case at hand, the petitioner (an Assistant Manager) had managed to obtain the approval from the office of the Chief Minister directing the Minister in-charge to accept the request of mutual transfer, though the same did not emanate from the office of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation. The Single Judge had stated that the same generated a doubt as to whether the Chief Minister was aware of the kind of orders/approvals obtained from his office. The Single Judge had indicated a suspicion that someone sitting in the office is mechanically issuing such orders/approvals, giving rise to heartburn amongst employees and consequent litigation before the Court.

The High Court, on February 24, 2026, had directed the Chief Secretary of the State to make the stand of the Government clear in unambiguous terms in respect of the impugned judgment. The Chief Secretary had filed an affidavit stating therein that the notes received from the Office of the Chief Minister are only recommendatory in nature and not transfer orders or approval. It was further stated in the affidavit that the recommendations/requests for the transfers of the Government officials are being dealt with in the concerned administrative departments, and after careful examination as per the provisions of the transfer guidelines issued by the State Government and with the approval of the competent authority on the file, the transfer orders are being issued by the administrative department.

Reasoning

On a perusal of the impugned judgment and the affidavit produced, the Bench stated that the transfers and postings of the employees should be left to the concerned administrative departments, and the highest authority of the State should not devote its time to such matters, nor should it interfere with the transfers and postings of the employees working within the government and the government undertakings.

The Bench concluded the matter by directing that the request for transfer and posting should not be directly entertained by the Office of the Chief Minister, and it must end at the level of the department itself.

“A copy of this order is to be placed before the Hon'ble Chief Minister for necessary direction to his office”, it ordered.

Cause Title: Sri Chethan S v. The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (Neutral Citation: 2026:KHC:14084-DB)

Appearance

Petitioner: Senior Advocate D. R. Ravi Shankar, Advocates Siri Raja

Respondent: Advocates Chandrachud A., K. Puttegowda, N.B. Nijalingappa

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