The Kerala High Court comes to the rescue of a woman IFS (Indian Forest Service) officer by allowing her to continue to serve in the Kerala cadre on inter- cadre deputation for her son’s treatment. Her case is pending before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for disposal.
The petitioner belongs to the AGMUT cadre. She was granted inter-cadre deputation to Kerala by the central government for three years on August 2020 for the treatment of her son who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She applied for a two year extension in 2022 on the ground that her son’s condition was improving in the environment and she needed to live in Kerala but her application was rejected by the central government without citing any reason.
It prompted her to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which passed an interim order in August 2023 allowing her to continue in Kerala cadre placing her petition under consideration. But the central government and the Ministry of Environment and Forest raised objection after which the CAT vacated its interim order in 2024. It led her to move the High Court.
While hearing her petition, the bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and Justice P G Ajith Kumar described the central govt’s order rejecting her application for an extension of deputation to be prima facie incorrect as the prime reason of her deputation remains valid. The HC also observed that personal difficulties should have been taken into consideration by the authorities.
