Is Transport Commissioner competent to transfer Motor Vehicle Inspector: CAT to Govt

Srinagar, Sep 28: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Srinagar has directed the authorities to inform it as to whether the Transport Commissioner is competent in law to transfer a motor vehicle Inspector.

A bench of M S Latif Member (Judicial) sought to know about the competence of the Transport Commissioner as it issued notice to the government for its response to a plea filed by Raja Omar Khan wherein, he challenged the order asking him to report to the office of ARTO, Ramban for further duties. Satinder Singh, AAG accepted the notice on behalf of the Transport Department and has been granted 10 days’ time to file a detailed response.

In his plea before the tribunal Khan through his counsel Sheikh Mushtaq is seeking court’s intervention to quash and set aside the transfer order dated 18- 09-2025, saying he belongs to the Divisional Cadre, and as such, the Transport Commissioner had no power to issue the order unless he had sought administrative approval from the competent authority. “The impugned order has been passed by an incompetent authority,” he said. While the bench issued notice to the government for its response to the plea, the tribunal in the in the meanwhile directed counsel for the respondents to inform the Court as to whether the Transport Commissioner is competent in law to issue the impugned order, particularly in light of the averments made by the petitioner in his plea.

The court asked the Counsel to keep in view the fact that the petitioner holds a Divisional Cadre post, where the competence to transfer any member of the Divisional Cadre lies with the Administrative Department.

The tribunal ordered that for a period of ten days, and subject to objections of the other side, the impugned order shall not be acted upon.

“It is further provided that the petitioner shall file the representation within two days from today before the competent authority, and the competent authority shall consider the same within the aforesaid period of ten days,’ the tribunal said while putting the petitioner at liberty to approach the competent authority with regard to the plea taken before the tribunal. The court listed the plea for further hearing on October 16.