The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Centre and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on a petition filed by over 40 Assistant Commandants seeking payment of their Transfer Travelling Allowance (TFR/TA) along with other consequential benefits such as Joining Time Pay.
A bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Navin Chawla has directed the Centre and the CRPF, India’s largest Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), to respond to the petition within four weeks.
The petition has sought directions to pay TFR/TA as per the statutory rule on transfer of petitioners, who are officers of the rank of Assistant Commandants, from CRPF academy to their Battalions after completion of their Basic Training as per Central Civil Services Rule.
Advocate Abhinav Garg, representing the officers, contended that the denial of transfer travelling allowance to the officers is “intentional and deliberately and not as per rule or law”. He argued that the Centre is paying Transfer Travelling Allowance to other CAPF such as the Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) on joining of new duties, after the completion of their basic training from the academy, to new unit.
The plea highlighted that the petitioners are Assistant Commandant officers of CRPF who joined the force after successfully qualifying the examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission.
The plea said the officers, after completion of their training from CRPF Academy in Gurugram, Haryana are presently posted at different parts of the country. However, when they applied for reimbursement of TFR/TA as per their appointment letter, it was denied by the Centre stating that the officers has reported to their post after completion of their basic training which cannot be treated as transfer.
Mr. Garg argued that as per the appointment letter issued by the Centre, the officers are entitled to draw dearness allowances and other allowances at the prescribed rates as admissible under the Central Civil Services Rules and orders governing the grant of such allowance in force from time to time without any condition.
As per the Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Rules, 1979 ‘Transfer’ means the movement of a government servant from one post to another either within the same station to take up duties of new post or in consequences of change of his headquarters, Mr Garg said.
The High Court will hear the case on March 2, next year.
