New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on a PIL challenging the alleged arbitrary and irrational transfers of IAS officers in the state.
A vacation bench of Justice Sudershan Reddy and Justice Aftab Alam granted four weeks time to the state to file its response.
The apex court issued notice on the petition filed by Satya Narain Shukla, a retired IAS officer, who contended that the transfers not only affected the morale of the officers, but were also unconstitutional.
The petitioner sought quashing of all powers purportedly assumed by Mayawati to transfer the civil servants at her whims and fancies.
Instead, it suggested a fixed transfer policy to ensure transparency in the process.
According to the petitioners, it should be ensured that a civil servant should not be transferred for 3-5 years and the total transfers, including training, promotion and deputations, should not exceed 30 per cent of the available officers in the cadre.
It suggested setting up of a Civil Services Board in each state to be headed by the Chief Secretary to ensure transparency in the transfers procedure.
The apex court, while issuing notice to the UP government on the petiton, granted the state four weeks to file the response.
While Shukla, a retired IAS officer, is now a practising lawyer, Prakash Singh, a former DGP of UP, gained prominence after the Supreme Court had earlier on his PIL passed a slew of directions on police reforms in the country.