KHOKHA KUNWAR vs EDUCATION on 29 October 2026

O R D E R

[ORAL]

[Per Kumar Rajesh Chandra, Member(A)]

Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned Senior Standing Counsel for the respondents.

2. The applicant instituted the present Original Application challenging the transfer order dated 11.08.2025, whereby he was transferred from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Gaya-II, to JNV, Garhwa. The said transfer was reiterated by a subsequent order dated 19.08.2025 after consideration and rejection of the applicant’s representation.

3. During the pendency of the Original Application, the respondents issued a transfer order dated 27.08.2025, whereby the applicant was transferred from JNV, Gaya-II, to JNV, Arong, Car Nicobar, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. By filing M.A. No. 050/00145/2026, the applicant seeks to introduce a challenge to this subsequent transfer order by way of amendment of the pleadings in the present Original Application.

4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the subsequent transfer order has materially altered the applicant’s posting and, therefore, the applicant should be permitted to incorporate a challenge to the said order in the pending proceedings.

5. Learned Senior Standing Counsel for the respondents opposes the prayer. He submits that the present Original Application is directed against the earlier transfer to Garhwa, whereas the subsequent order dated 27.08.2025 constitutes a distinct administrative decision giving rise to a separate cause of action. The earlier transfer order no longer governs the applicant’s posting, and the subsequent order has also been implemented. It is, therefore, contended that the proposed amendment would substantially alter the subject matter of the Original Application.

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6. I have considered the rival submissions and examined the material available on record.

7. The power to permit amendment of pleadings is intended to facilitate effective adjudication of the real controversy between the parties and to avoid unnecessary multiplicity of proceedings. At the same time, an amendment cannot be permitted as a matter of course where it would substantially substitute the original cause of action with a distinct and independent cause of action, thereby changing the foundational controversy in the original pending proceedings.

8. In the present case, the original challenge concerns the applicant’s transfer from JNV, Gaya-II, to JNV, Garhwa. The subsequent order dated 27.08.2025 directs his transfer from JNV, Gaya-II to JNV, Arong, Car Nicobar, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The legality of the subsequent transfer would require consideration of the circumstances and grounds relevant to that particular administrative decision. The mere fact that both orders concern the same applicant’s transfer does not, by itself, make the two challenges identical.

9. In these circumstances, I am of the considered view that the proposed amendment would substantially alter the subject matter of the present Original Application. The subsequent transfer order, having been issued during the pendency of the proceedings, gives rise to a distinct cause of action which may appropriately be examined in independent proceedings. I, therefore, find no sufficient justification to permit the proposed amendment in the present case. Accordingly, M.A. No. 050/00145/2026 is dismissed.

10. So far as the Original Application is concerned, the relief originally sought was directed against the transfer to JNV, Garhwa. In view of the subsequent transfer order dated 27.08.2025, the earlier transfer order no longer governs the applicant’s posting. The applicant has admittedly complied with the subsequent order and joined at the

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transferred place of posting on 23.09.2025, as also reflected in the declaration accompanying the miscellaneous application.

11. In view of these subsequent developments, the principal relief sought in the Original Application, as framed, no longer subsists and has become infructuous. No effective relief in respect of the earlier transfer order survives for adjudication in the present proceedings. I, accordingly, dispose of the Original Application as having been rendered infructuous, without examining the legality or merits of either transfer decision.

12. It is, however, clarified that dismissal of the miscellaneous application and disposal of the Original Application shall not be construed as an adjudication on the validity of the subsequent transfer order dated 27.08.2025. The applicant shall be at liberty to institute an appropriate Original Application challenging the said order, if so considered by him, in accordance with law. Any such proceeding shall be considered on its own merits, subject to all applicable requirements, including limitation, maintainability and the availability of relief. No opinion is expressed on any of these issues.

13. There shall be no order as to costs. (Kumar Rajesh Chandra) Member (A)

Srk.

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