Ram Lal Machara vs NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY on 26 October 2026

ORDER

Per Dr. Hukum Singh Meena, Member (A)

Being aggrieved by the order No.IRMT/ENGG/E-V/149233 dated 08.07.2026 (Annexure-A/1) whereby the mutual transfer of the applicant was cancelled, the applicant has filed the present OA under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 and sought following reliefs:- “A. by an appropriate order or direction, impugned order/letter No. IRMT/ENGG/E-V/149233 dated 08.07.2026 (Annexure-Al) vide which the respondent no. 3 has cancelled the inter-railway mutual transfer of the applicant and has directed his repatriation to the Bhavnagar Division, Western Railway, may kindly be quashed and set aside; and B. by an appropriate order or direction, it may kindly be declared that the mutual transfer of the applicant stood complete and irrevocable upon his relieving on 13.06.2026 and his joining in the Jodhpur Division on 18.06.2026, and that the same could not be cancelled at the instance of the respondents; and C. the respondents no. 1 to 3 may kindly be directed to continue the applicant in service in the Jodhpur Division, North Western Railway, in terms of the posting order dated 29.06.2026, with all consequential benefits including continuity of service, seniority and pay; and

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D. that if during the pendency of the instant application the applicant is relieved or repatriated to the Bhavnagar Division, the same may kindly be made subject to the outcome of the Instant application; and E. any other appropriate order or direction which this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem fit, just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be passed in favour of the applicant.”

2. Brief facts of the case are as under :- 2.1 The applicant was appointed as a Track Maintainer Grade-IV, Level 1 of the 7th CPC Pay Matrix by RRC-WR Mumbai and posted in the Civil Engineering Department, Bhavnagar Division, Western Railway, vide office order dated 04.06.2024. He was subsequently posted in Gang No.8 KD under SSE (P.Way)/AE, ADEN-Amreli where he joined on 05.06.2024. Thereafter he applied for mutual transfer with respondent No.6, Shri Hukuma Ram, a Track Maintainer Grade-IV working in the North Western Railway in the Jodhpur Division. On 19.01.2026, the application was verified by the competent authority and forwarded through proper channel and accepted by respondents vide letter No.IRMT/Engg/E-V/136020 dated 21.05.2026 and was digitally approved on 26.05.2026. The office of respondent No.2 conveyed the acceptance of mutual transfer and requested Bhavnagar Division to relieve the applicant after the usual verification of dues, DAR/vigilance clearances, and outstanding advances in terms of RBE No. 8 of 2009 and RBE No. 65 of 2018 2.2 It is further averred that inter-railway mutual transfers are governed by the Railway Board's comprehensive policy issued vide letter No.E(NG)I-2018/TR/8 dated 11.01.2019 (RBE No.08 of 2009). He also referred para 4(iv) of the ibid policy, which provides that once the

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mutual transfers are ordered with the consent of both parties, it should be made clear right at the time of forwarding the application that no request for back-tracking from the mutual exchange arrangement will be entertained under any circumstances. The aforementioned instructions are also in consequence of the consolidated instructions issued vide Board Order dated 21.04.2006 (RBE No.53 of 2006). 2.3 Further, the instructions dated 09.05.2018 (RBE No.65/2018) mandate that once the mutual transfer order is issued and the senior person is relieved first, both the railways shall spare the employee immediately without either unit waiting for the reliever. Subsequently, the competent authority of the Western Railway formally sanctioned the exchange on mutual transfer vide office order No.MUTUAL- TRANSFER-MT00067797 dated 10.06.2026 whereby the Bhavnagar Division, Western Railway, approved the inter-railway mutual transfer of the applicant with the respondent No.6 and further certified that no DR/vigilance cases were pending against the applicant and no NOC- related dues were outstanding. 2.4 Thereafter, in compliance of the aforesaid order, the applicant was relieved by the SSE (P.Way)/AE Amreli and Bhavnagar Division vide office order No.EE/77/2026 on 15.06.2026 forenoon after handing over of the tools and clearance and after recording his complete service particulars, directing the applicant to report to the office of the DRM (P) Jodhpur Division, North Western Railway for further joining. In compliance of the aforesaid order, the applicant joined the Divisional DRM(P) office on 18.06.2026 which was duly accepted and thereafter,

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vide posting order No.2026641849 dated 29.06.2026, the respondent No.2 formally posted the applicant as Track Maintainer Grade-IV in the Jodhpur Division under SSE (P. Way)/BME with effect from 29.06.2026. In compliance of the aforementioned order, the applicant joined the service on 18.06.2026. Meanwhile, the respondent No.6 tendered his letter of voluntary resignation dated 26.6.2026 citing family circumstances. 2.5 Initially, the respondent acted as per the guideline issued by Railway Board on the voluntary resignation of the respondent No.6 and further recorded that the mutual transfer already stood accepted, the applicant had been relieved and had joined the Jodhpur Division on 18.06.2026, and thereafter he was posted at Jodhpur Division at Barmer. Therefore, the resignation of the respondent No.6 could not be entertained by Jodhpur Division since his rightful place of posting after the acceptance of the mutual transfer was Bhavnagar Division. Hence, he was advised to join the Bhavnagar Division and tender his resignation. However, with the utter surprise, the same respondent after 5 days later issued another order dated 08.07.2026, whereby the mutual transfer order was cancelled on the ground that respondent No.6 had withdrawn from the mutual transfer for family reason before being relieved, recalling posting order dated 29.06.2026 of the applicant and directed that the applicant be sent back to his original division Bhavnagar. 2.6 It is appropriate to mention that the official respondents had not issued any kind of notices to the applicant before passing of the

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impugned order. Opportunity of hearing was also not given. Being aggrieved with the decision of the respondent, the applicant submitted his representation dated 09.07.2026 before the respondent No.2 and 3, explicitly citing RBE No.53/2006, RBE No.08/2019, RBE No.200/2009 and RBE No.65/2018 praying that the cancellation be recalled and he may be allowed to continue his posting in the Jodhpur Division. However, the official respondents have not taken any decision on the representation of the applicant and he was forced to relinquish his post and return to the Bhavnagar Division forthwith. Therefore, he filed the present OA on the following ground. 2.7 That the order of the official respondents issued on 08.07.2026 is illegal, arbitrary and without any authority of law as it is contrary to the Railway Board's binding policy especially para 4(iv) of RBE No.08 of 2019 dated 11.01.2019 which provides that no request for back tracking from mutual exchange arrangement will be entertained under any circumstances. It has also been provided in the RBE No.53/2006 dated 21.04.2006. Since the applicant had been relieved from the Western Railway on 13.06.2026; and joined North Western Railway, Jodhpur Division on 18.06.2026 and was formally posted on 29.06.2026, cancelling the mutual transfer by official respondents is not tenable in the eye of law. He also referred that for the wrong doing of the respondent No.6, the applicant is being punished by the respondent as the official respondents knew that respondent No.6 had consented for mutual exchange with the applicant and he backtracked only after the applicant had joined the North Western Railway, which is illegal and

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contrary to the provision laid down by Railway Board. Therefore, the OA be allowed.

3. E-converso, the official respondents No.1 to 5 filed their reply wherein they have denied the averments made by the applicant in the OA and further averred that in view of provision of Section 20 of the Administrative Tribunals Act 1985 that Tribunal shall not ordinarily admit an application unless it is satisfied the applicant had availed of all the remedies available to him under the relevant service rules as to redressal of his grievances. He further referred that Section 20 sub- section 3(q) where it is manifested that relief can be granted to an applicant only in accordance with the relevant statutory rules and the Tribunal being a creature of statute has not been conferred any equity jurisdiction, therefore, the OA deserves to be dismissed. 3.1 RBE No.53/2006 is the circular of Railway Board and are applicable only in normal mutual transfer scenario. The official respondents further contended that the order of mutual transfer was based on the fact that respondent No.6 Hukma Ram had given consent however subsequently respondent No.6 withdrew his consent for mutual transfer on 19.01.2026. It was also denied that applicant joined his service in the office of ADEN at Barmer because private respondent No.6 was already working on his post and meanwhile No.6 also rendered his resignation wherein the aforementioned act rendered the mutual transfer infructuous. He further referred that the mutual transfer policy contemplates the replacement of employee which in the present case is not possible on account of resignation of the private respondent

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No.6. He assailed the stand of the applicant that mutual transfer policy para 4(iv) RBE No.08 of 2019 dated 11.01.2019 is applicable only to the employee and not to the authorities, its text which reads as:- „since mutual transfers are ordered with the consent of both the parties, it should be made clear right at the time of forwarding application for mutual transfer that no request for back tracking will be entertained under any circumstances.‟ Therefore, on the above ground, the lacks merit and same deserves to be dismissed.

4. Heard learned counsel for both the parties at length and perused the guidelines and material available on record.

5. It is evident from record that the applicant was selected on the post of Track Maintainer Grade-IV in the Civil Engineer Department, Bhavnagar Division, Western Railway vide order dated 04.06.2024 and was posted in Gang No.8 KD under SSE (P.Way)/AE/ ADEN-Amerli. It is also evident that the applicant had applied for mutual transfer as per the guidelines of RBE No.08 of 2019 dated 11.01.2019 with the respondent No.6, Mr. Hukma Ram, who was working as a Track Maintainer Grade-IV in Jodhpur Division at Barmer. The said application was accepted and forwarded to the competent authority. Subsequently, the applicant was relieved by Divisional, DRM(P) office vide order No.EE/77/2026 on 15.06.2026 which was duly accepted and thereafter, vide posting order No.2026641849 dated 29.06.2026, the respondent No.2 posted the applicant as Track Maintainer Grade-IV in the Jodhpur Division under SSE (P. Way)/BME with effect from 29.06.2026. In compliance of the aforementioned order, the applicant

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had joined the service. However, the respondent No.6 namely Shri Hukma Ram withdrew his consent vide 26.06.2026 because he was intending to resign from the Railway on account of his family circumstances. 5.1 The official respondents, in view of the resignation submitted by the respondent no.6, had taken a decision that since the mutual transfer has been already been acted upon, the respondent No.6 should join Bhavnagar Division and submit his resignation there. However, subsequently the official respondents while acting contrary to the decision taken earlier, vide order No.IRMT/ENGG/E-V/149233 dated 08.07.2026 (Annexure-A/1) cancelled the mutual transfer of the both applicant and respondent No.6 on the ground that the respondent No.6 has withdrawn/back tracked from consent of his mutual transfer. 5.2 Now the issue for adjudication before us is whether the respondents acted as per rules in cancelling the mutual transfer after tendering resignation by the private respondent No.6? 5.3 In order to address this issue, it would be appropriate to refer relevant guidelines issued by the Railway Board.. Para 4(iv) of RBE No.08 of 2019 dated 11.01.2019 reads as under:- “4 (iv) No Backtracking once Mutual Exchange Agreed:- Since mutual transfers are ordered with the consent of both the parties, it should be made clear right at the time of forwarding application for mutual transfer that no request for backtracking from Mutual exchange arrangement will be entertained under any circumstances.”

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The RBE No.200/2009 issued by the Ministry of Railway vide order dated 12.11.2009 reads as under:- “As per Board's letter of even number dated 21.04.2006 requests for backtracking from the orders issued for transfer on mutual exchange basis, should not be entertained under any circumstances and strict adherence of the orders issued, is required to be ensured. Instances have come to notice that requests for backtracking have been considered by Railways. This have been viewed seriously by the Railway Board. Railways are requested to ensure strict compliance of the extant instructions.” Further, RBE No.53/2006 issued by the Ministry of Railway vide order dated 21.04.2006, states as follows:- “As the Railways are aware in terms of extant procedure in vogue vide para 310 of Indian Railway Establishment Manual, Vol.1, 1989, transfers on the basis of mutual exchange are allowed with now loss or minimum loss of Seniority. Instances have come to notice where employees make request for such mutual exchange transfer and later on backout when orders are issued and even after one of the two employees gets relieved to join the new place.

3. Board have reviewed the matter and decided that as mutual transfers are ordered with the consent of both the parties, it should be made clear right at the time of forwarding applications for mutual transfer that no request for backtracking from the mutual exchange arrangement will be entertained under any circumstances. Strict adherence to this procedure may please be ensured.” 5.4 Upon perusal of the above provisions of the Ministry of Railway, it is explicitly clear that as per the policy and guideline issued by Railway Board vide ibid circulars, the employees who had consented to the mutual transfer are not allowed to back track after they have agreed for the mutual transfer. In the present case also, it emerges that the official respondents had acted upon the mutual transfer after receiving consent of both employees i.e. the applicant and respondent No.6. The applicant herein was relieved from the Bhavnagar Division and he

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joined the Jodhpur Division and accordingly the posting order was also issued by DRM(P), Jodhpur Division, Western Railway. Therefore, in our considered view, the order of the respondent authority issued vide order No.IRMT/ENGG/E-V/149233 dated 08.07.2026 (Annexure-A/1) cancelling the mutual transfer of the applicant after it has been acted upon is contrary to the guideline issued by Ministry of Railway vide RBE No.53/2006, RBE No.200/2009 and RBE No.08/2019. This fact is also evident from the illustration of relevant paras hereinabove. 5.5 In view of the above position, the OA deserves to be allowed with the following direction:-

(i) The order No.IRMT/ENGG/E-V/149233 dated 08.07.2026 (Annexure-A/1) whereby the mutual transfer of the applicant and respondent No.6 was cancelled is set aside; and

(ii) the official respondents are directed to allow the applicant herein to join in North Western Railway as a Track Maintainer Grade-IV with all consequential benefit from the date of joining in the Jodhpur Division. 5.6 Accordingly, the OA is allowed as stated above. MA No.154/2026 stands disposed of. No order as to costs.

(Dr. HUKUM SINGH MEENA) (RAMESHWAR VYAS)

MEMBER (A)

MEMBER (J)

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