The Madhya Pradesh High Court in Indore has dismissed a petition by a state government employee, Naseem Uddin, who alleged that his transfer was influenced by religious bias and political malice. Justice Subodh Abhyankar, presiding over the case, strongly criticized the unfounded claims, emphasizing the potential harm such allegations could bring to the administrative order.
Naseem Uddin, who served as the Incharge Assistant Controller (Legal Metrology) in Ratlam, was transferred to Chhindwara on March 13. He contested this transfer, claiming it was motivated by the fact that he is a Muslim and influenced by local leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Uddin presented a document he described as a “recommendation” for his and four others’ transfers due to their religious identities.
The state government, represented in court, categorically denied these allegations, arguing that the transfer was a routine administrative procedure devoid of any communal or malicious intent. The government’s counsel stressed that transferring employees belonging to one community does not inherently indicate bias, and accused Uddin of attempting to misuse his religious identity to gain an undue advantage.
Justice Abhyankar, in his ruling, noted that the petitioner’s long tenure in Ratlam and his intense resistance to the transfer—going as far as to allege communal bias—demonstrated a clear misuse of the allegation to impede the transfer process. “His continuation at Ratlam for more than 9 to 10 years and his unwillingness to move out of the said place by any means, even by alleging communal bias, only demonstrates his desperate attempt to stall his transfer,” the judge remarked.
The court further highlighted the dangers of entertaining such baseless claims, suggesting that it could lead to widespread administrative dysfunction. “If such allegations are accepted at face value, it could lead to a scenario where any senior officer from the Muslim community might also be wrongfully accused of communal bias when transferring non-Muslim subordinates, resulting in total failure of state machinery and resultant disorder,” Justice Abhyankar explained.
