WP(C)/338/2026 of Kanu Degio Vs The State of AP and 2 Ors on 23 July 2026

ORDER

Date : 24.07.2026

Heard Mr. A. Sarma, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. T. Tagum, learned Standing Counsel for the Education Department.

2. Aggrieved by the non-release of the petitioner by the Deputy Director of School Education (DDSE), Longding, thereby preventing him from joining his new place of posting at Government Middle School, Sekong, in Bichom District, the present writ petition is instituted.

3. Having considered the nature of grievance raised in this petition and no prejudice would cause to any of the parties and as agreed to by the learned counsel for the parties, this writ petition is disposed of at the motion stage itself.

4. The petitioner was appointed as an Assistant Teacher, now re-designated as Primary Teacher, under the Department of Elementary Education in the year 2011. He was initially posted at Government Middle School, Palin, Pakke Kessang District, and was thereafter transferred to Government Middle School, Pumao, Longding District.

5. The Department of Education, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, in order to rationalise the transfer and posting of teachers in the State, vide order dated 30.06.2026, transferred as many as 349 teachers, including the petitioner. The petitioner has been transferred from Government Middle School, Pumao, Longding District, to Government Middle School, Sekong, in the District of Bichom.

6. It is the case of the petitioner that, despite the transfer order dated

30.06.2026, the DDSE, Longding District, has not released the petitioner without any justifiable ground. The petitioner, pursuant to his transfer, has already shifted to his new place of posting in Bichom District.

7. Mr. A. Sarma, learned counsel for the petitioner, by referring to the terms and conditions of the transfer and posting order dated 30.06.2026, submits that the DDSEs/Principals of the Districts/Offices concerned, from where the transfers are being effected, shall release the transferees within 10 (ten) days from the date of issuance of the order. However, the DDSE, Longding, has not released the petitioner despite submission of his representation seeking such release. Therefore, he submits that the respondent No. 3, i.e., the DDSE, Longding, may be directed to release the petitioner forthwith.

8. Mr. T. Tagum, learned Standing Counsel for the Education Department, fairly submits that the transfer and posting of teachers by the order dated 30.06.2026 is part of the rationalisation of teachers in the State, in terms of the Arunachal Pradesh Transfer and Posting of Employees of the Education Department (Regulation and Management) Act, 2026 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act of 2026’). The concerned authorities are required to release the transferred teachers within 15 days. Mr. Tagum submits that, as per the provisions of the Act of 2026, after the issuance of the transfer order, the transferees are required to be relieved within 15 days unless the transfer order is suspended by the competent authority. In the instant case, although he has no specific instructions as such, the concerned DDSE is duty-bound to release the petitioner.

9. Admittedly, the State, by way of rationalisation of the transfer and posting of teachers, issued the order dated 30.06.2026, whereby as many as 349

teachers have been transferred and posted to various schools in terms of the aforesaid Act of 2026. In the said order, the name of the petitioner appears at Serial No. 335, and he has been transferred from Government Middle School, Pumao, Longding District, to Government Middle School, Sekong, in Bichom District.

10. Upon consideration, this Court finds that there appears no impediment to release the petitioner so as to enable him to join at his present place of posting, i.e., Government Middle School, Sekong, Bichom District. The non-release of the petitioner despite the valid transfer order amounts to an act of arbitrariness on the part of the Deputy Director of School Education, Longding, as there appears to be no justifiable ground for not releasing the petitioner.

11. Having considered that no justifiable ground is discernible for not releasing the petitioner despite a valid transfer and posting order, that too issued in the course of rationalisation of the transfer and posting of teachers in the State, this Court deems it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition with a direction to the respondent No. 3, i.e., the DDSE, Longding, to release the petitioner forthwith, but in any case not later than 7 (seven) days from today, so as to enable him to join his new place of posting at Government Middle School, Sekong, Bichom District.

12. It is ordered accordingly.

13. The writ petition stands allowed and disposed of in the above terms. JUDGE Comparing Assistant