Uttarakhand High Court
WPSB/478/2026 of DARWAN SINGH Vs ENGINEER IN CHIEF/ HEAD OF DEPARTMENT on 27 July 2026
HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. MANOJ KUMAR GUPTA AND HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SUBHASH UPADHYAY 27TH JULY, 2026 WRIT PETITION (S/B) NO. 478 OF 2026 Darwan Singh …...Petitioner. Versus Engineer In-Chief & another ….Respondents.
HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL
HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. MANOJ KUMAR GUPTA
AND
HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SUBHASH UPADHYAY
27TH JULY, 2026
WRIT PETITION (S/B) NO. 478 OF 2026
Darwan Singh
…...Petitioner.
Versus
Engineer In-Chief & another
….Respondents.
Counsel for the Petitioner
:
Mr. Ravi Babulkar and Mr. Sumit
Kumar, learned counsel.
Counsel for the State
:
Mr. B.S. Parihar, learned Additional
Chief Standing Counsel with Mr. M.S.
Bisht, learned Brief Holder.
JUDGMENT :(per Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta, C.J.)
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1. The present writ petition is directed against the order of transfer of the petitioner dated 30th June, 2026, passed by respondent no.1 and the order dated 20th July, 2026 rejecting his representation, thus declining him to continue at the same sub-division.
2. By order dated 30th June, 2026, the petitioner was transferred from Irrigation Division, Uttarkashi (sub- division-4) to (sub-division-1) on the same post of Assistant Engineer (Civil). The said order was subjected to challenge by the petitioner in Writ Petition (S/B) No.428 of 2026 and the said writ petition was disposed of by order dated 09.07.2026 permitting the petitioner to make representation to the competent authority with a further direction to the competent authority to decide the same within two weeks.
3. In pursuance of the same, the representation filed by the petitioner has been decided and it has been rejected by impugned order dated 20th July, 2026. It has been stated in the order that the transfer of the petitioner is only from one sub-division to another sub-division, meaning thereby, that his division remains unchanged. It is also stated that in sub-division-1, the irrigated area is large as compared to other sub-divisions, therefore, the Department needed a competent officer, who would be in a position to oversee the irrigation facilities available in the said sub- division. The petitioner has experience of more than twenty years and the Department, therefore, wanted his experience to be utilized in the said sub-division. The change in sub-division has been effected keeping the said requirement in mind.
4. The aforesaid facts have not been disputed by learned counsel for the petitioner. As the transfer is only from one sub-division to another sub-division, within the same division and solely in public interest, therefore, we find no good ground to interfere with the order rejecting the representation of the petitioner or the order of transfer.
5. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed.
6. Pending application, if any, also stands disposed of.
MANOJ KUMAR GUPTA, C.J.
SUBHASH UPADHYAY, J. Dated: 27th July, 2026 NISHANT
NISHANT KUMAR Digitally signed by NISHANT KUMAR DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=ad3fcb5ca64340f5dd0a4c574afa0fd63133605ca57cdc00ec2b7462b452b326, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=7E81318F3B1BE7EAAC9370185F7C9C20892BC63A055CFD19616905604 87E670C, cn=NISHANT KUMAR Date: 2026.07.28 15:00:03 +05'30'