The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition filed by an Under Secretary in the Governor’s Secretariat accusing Additional Chief Secretary R. Rajagopal of having transferred him from Chennai to the Raj Bhavan at Udhagamandalam with a mala fide intention of punishing him.
Justice V. Parthiban agreed with Advocate General Vijay Narayan that the petitioner S. Nagaraj had failed to prove the allegation of mala fide beyond any pale of doubt and the court could not interfere with a transfer order, passed due to administrative exigency, on the basis of conjectures and surmises.
“The transfer order has been approved by none other than His Excellency the Governor of Tamil Nadu, the highest constitutional authority of the State against whom no mala fide is alleged nor could be alleged by the petitioner. Once the transfer order has been approved by the highest constitutional dignitary, it is presumed to be bonafide. “Such presumption can be dislodged by the petitioner only if he comes with much stronger case of bias or malafide against His Excellency the Governor of Tamil Nadu and also the first respondent (Mr. Rajagopal) in his personal capacity,” the judge said while upholding the transfer order issued on May 29.