' The appellant has assailed the order dated 3-6-2011 passed by the learned single Judge in Chamber whereby Writ Petition No,6773 of 2011 filed by the appellant was dismissed.
2. The appellant was selected as Subject Specialist in English vide memo. No,15/2- 89/21658/Admn(W)-4 dated 17-9-1989 and was posted in the Government College Elementary Teachers (W) Nawan Shahr, Multan.
3. Vide letter No, SO(SE-II)1-1/2010 dated 9-5-2011, the appellant was promoted from BS-18 to BS-19 by the Secretary Education, (Schools) Government of Punjab, Lahore and was transferred from Government College Elementary Teachers Training (W) Nawan Shahar Multan to Government Girls Higher Secondary School Dhanot, District Lodhran as Principal. The appellant assailed the aforesaid order of her transfer before the learned single Judge in Chamber through Writ Petition No, 6773 of 2010 on the ground that the aforesaid order to the extent of transfer of the appellant from Multan to Lodhran is against the wedlock policy given by the Government of the Punjab but the learned single Judge in Chamber did not consider this aspect of the matter and dismissed the writ petition in limine. Hence, the present Intra Court Appeal.
4. Learned counsel for the appellant has contended that the impugned order of transfer is against the wedlock policy of the Government. The husband of the appellant is an Associate Professor in Government College Civil Lines, Multan and the appellant is residing with him in the house situated near Kitchary Chowk, Multan; she will have to travel about 220 kilometers every day on public transport in case she is forced to join at her new place of posting; two posts of BS-19 are lying vacant at Government Girls High Schools, Sooraj Miani and Government Girls High School, Moon Light School, New Multan. The appellant can be easily accommodated at the aforesaid Institution but the learned Single Judge in Chamber has failed to appreciate this aspect of the case as well.
Therefore, the impugned order is liable to be reversed and the respondents be directed to be posted at suitable Institution within Multan City. Learned counsel for the appellant has relied upon Prof. Dr. Tariq Iqbal Bhutta v. Government of the Punjab and. Others (1996 PLC (C.S.) 552 and has contended that government had fixed the parameters within which it has to exercise its authority while transferring the Professors and Associate Professors in the teaching Institutions and the husband and wife should be posted at the same station as far as possible. It is also contended that when the department authority does not act under the law or the rules then the Constitutional jurisdiction of this Court can be invoked in view of the case-law reported as Kh. Abdul Qayyum v.
Government of AJK 1998 PLC (C.S.) 1321.
5. We have heard the learned counsel for the appellant and have also gone through the relevant record. It is not the case of the appellant that the order of transfer is based on mala fides. It is alleged that the order is against the wedlock policy and is violative of the provisions of Articles 34 and 35 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. Articles 34 and 35 of the ibid are as under:--- "Article-34 Full participation of women in national life.--- Steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all spheres of national life.
Article-35 Protection of family, etc.--- The State shall protect the marriage, the family, the mother and the child."
6. The appellant has relied on the letter No,SO(SE)1-1/87 Government of the Punjab Education Department dated 27-8-1987 regarding transfer policy wherein it has been mentioned that as far possible the husband and wife would be posted at the same station if both of them are government servants.
7. The matters of posting and transfer of the Civil servants are dealt under section 9 of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 which reads as under:--- "Posting and transfer.--- Every civil.Servant shall be liable to serve anywhere within or outside the Province in any post under the Government of the Punjab of the Federal Government or any Provincial Government or a local authority or a corporation or a body set up or established by any such Government."
8. A bare reading of section 9 of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 reveals that a civil servant is bound to serve anywhere within or outside the Province in any post under the Government of the Punjab or the Federal Government or any Provincial Government or a local authority or a Corporation of a body set up or established by any such Government.
9. The transfer order' was assailed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in the exercise of its Constitutional jurisdiction on the plea of mala fide but the writ petition was dismissed and the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held while deciding the case of Peer Muhammad v. Government of Balochistan (2007 SCMR 54) that the question of posting of a government servant squarely falls within the jurisdiction and domain of competent authority, only the Service Tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction to dilate upon and decide such matters and the Constitutional jurisdiction of High Court cannot be invoked to get such controversies resolved. It has also been held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Secretary Education N. -W.F.P. Peshawar and 2 others v. Mustamir. Khan and another (2005 SCMR 17) that transfer of any civil servant could only be made by competent authority in the exigency of service and public interest and the civil servant had no right to remain posted at a particular place. If the transfer order is based on mala fide even then the Service Tribunal has jurisdiction to interfere and set aside the same.
10. The case-law produced by the learned counsel for the appellant is not applicable to the facts and circumstances of this case. Under Article 189 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, all the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan deciding the question of law are binding on all other Courts in Pakistan. Article 212 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 ousts the jurisdiction of all other Courts and the orders of the departmental authority even though without jurisdiction or mala fide can be challenged only before the Service Tribunal and the jurisdiction of Civil Courts including High Court is specifically ousted. The appellant had no vested right to be posted against a particular post at a particular place. Hence, the question of infringement of her legal right allegedly vested under Articles 34 and 35 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 does not arise at all. The transfer policy is just a guideline and it has got no binding force. It is the competent authority which has to see the feasibility that husband and wife can be posted at one station or not. Primarily a civil servant is governed by section 9 of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 regarding the matter of postings and transfers who do not create any vested right for a civil servant to remain posted at the station of her own choice.
Therefore, the impugned order of the learned Single Judge in Chamber is in accordance with law and the same is hereby maintained. The appeal is without merits and the same is dismissed.