State has right to transfer teachers as needed: SC
Times of India | 27 September 2024
Kolkata: Supreme Court on Thursday said the state had the authority to transfer teachers working in govt schools as needed and transfer was an “integral part” of any govt job.
A bench of justices J K Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal dismissed a case filed by a state teachers’ organisation challenging this authority. The organisation had filed a case alleging that despite vacancies in nearby schools, 157 teachers were transferred nearly 200km away.
They argued that such transfers violated the rules of the School Service Commission.
The SC, however, did not accept this argument. The judges questioned why the teachers had not files cases individually and why they were refusing to work in distant schools despite knowing that transfers were part of govt jobs. The court found no satisfactory answers to these questions and subsequently dismissed the case.
The bench also clarified that state govt had the authority to transfer teachers from one district to another if necessary, and the decision of SSC would be final in such matters.