NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court said Monday that it should not interfere with publications, particularly in the military, as someone has to go and serve in places like Ladakh, certain areas of the Northeast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The high court declared this while listening to an appeal filed by an army colonel against the Delhi High Court order that he and his wife, who is also an Army colonel, had been asked to move to their new assigned posts within 15 days.
The petitioner, who is an official of the Department of the Attorney General’s Office (JAG), had transferred to the higher court challenging the order of displacement of May 15 and alleged that the decision to transfer him and his wife to distant places was taken as I had presented it. a legal complaint against JAG and others.
He had questioned his fate on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands since Jodhpur in Rajasthan and claimed that his wife was being sent to Bathinda in Punjab.
During the high court hearing on Monday, the lawyer who appeared on behalf of the petitioner told a court headed by Judge DY Chandrachud that the distance between Bhatinda and the Andaman and Nicobar islands is more than 3,500 km.
Chief defender Ranjit Kumar, who appeared for the petitioner, said that both officers have a four-and-a-half-year-old son and have taken charge in their respective places.
Kumar told the court that the petitioner has to apply for voluntary retirement because of this transfer.
“If the armed forces say they are opposed to joint displacement in Delhi, it can be tough, but someone has to go to Andaman and Nicobar as well,” said the bank, which also includes judges Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee.
“In matters of assignment of Army officers, we must not interfere. In places like Ladakh, the Northeast and Andaman, someone has to go, “the bank observed, adding:” At posts, particularly in the armed forces, we must not interfere. ”
“These are very difficult cases. It is very difficult for us to say that we will reconsider this, ”said the bench.
After the high court noted that he is unwilling to interfere, Kumar said he would withdraw the statement.
“Ranjit Kumar, lead attorney who appeared on behalf of the petitioner, requests the court’s permission to withdraw the Petition for Special Leave so that the petitioner can follow an independent procedure regarding his request to withdraw the request for voluntary retirement,” the bank listed in your order.
“In terms of the previous request, the Special License Request is dismissed as withdrawn, leaving the petitioner open to seek available remedies,” he said.
The higher court, while dealing with the petition, had said that the Army had given reasons in its order for rejecting the officer’s request / representation for a spouse-coordinated position and that the court has not presented any grounds of bad faith or violation of any rule. interfere in the matter.
The Army had informed the high court that the two senior officers can only be stationed together in New Delhi, but it cannot be done as the JAG department has 23 colonels alone compared to the authorized force of 40 and static headquarters (HQ ) such as New Delhi. they have lower priority than field formations when posts are being considered.
He had said that sending the couple to New Delhi “will be at the cost of maintaining gaps in the training headquarters, which is not in the organizational interest.”
In its response to the superior court, the Army had also said that since the couple’s marriage in 2008, three spouses have been assigned coordinated announcements in their applications and “every effort was made to place them both in the same station. “.
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