A whistle-blower cannot claim permanent immunity from transfer merely by alleging that the move is an act of retaliation, the Delhi high court has said, upholding a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel’s relocation from Uttar Pradesh’s Noida to Manipur.
A bench of justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla on Tuesday said that there was no proof of malafide in the transfer order and to indicate any link between the whistle-blowing activities and the relocation.
The CRPF personnel moved the court against the July 17 transfer order, claiming it was driven by malice and intended as retaliation for being a whistle-blower. His plea accused the authorities of repeatedly targeting him, issuing a “baseless charge-sheet”, and denying him transport allowance due to his whistle-blowing activities.
The CRPF’s lawyer said the personnel was transferred after the completion of tenure at Noida.
The bench cited the clarification of the authorities that the transfer was for administrative reasons. “Transfer is an incidence of service. It cannot be that, by merely levelling allegations against the officials of the department or claiming to be an internal whistle-blower, an employee can forever immunise himself against transfer,” the court said.
“If the employee is able to satisfy the court that there is a link between his whistle-blowing activities and the transfer order, the court would be justified in interfering.”
{{/usCountry}}“If the employee is able to satisfy the court that there is a link between his whistle-blowing activities and the transfer order, the court would be justified in interfering.”
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