Observing that transfer orders of the Defence Ministry can be cancelled only in “rarest of rare” circumstances, the Bombay High Court asked an army officer to find out if facilities for taking care of his mentally and physically disabled child are available in the city where he is to be transferred.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak was hearing a petition filed by Lt Col Anil Kumar Yadav challenging his transfer to Hyderabad from Mumbai.
According to Yadav, who has been posted in Mumbai for five years, his 12-year-old son is blind and hearing impaired and is also mentally retarded.
“The son has been undergoing treatment at Helen Keller Institute since five years. He needs constant care and attention. To uproot him now would not be proper,” Yadav’s lawyer Gayatri Singh said.
The court, however, sought to know if such facility or institution was available in Hyderabad.
“He (Yadav) cannot expect his son to remain in Helen Keller Institute forever. In Hyderabad also there might be several institutes which can take care of such children. It is not like the petitioner is being posted in a place where no facility is available. Hyderabad is a developed city,” the high court said.
“If one person is given the benefit then everyone will come asking for the same relief. Only in rarest of rare circumstances we can allow such reliefs. Some balance needs to be maintained from both the sides. If such institutes are not there in Hyderabad, then find out if any other city has such facilities. The army can transfer you (Yadav) to that city then,” the bench said.
The court posted the petition for further hearing next week and stayed the transfer order till then.
