A division bench headed by Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati of the Rajasthan High Court has ruled that the issue of determining the admissibility of a travel allowance should not be considered an incurable defect in an employee's transfer order.

The Court was hearing an appeal from a government employee (the appellant) who was transferred to another location without receiving the traveling allowance. The appellant's counsel argued that Rule 17 of the Rajasthan Travelling Allowance Rules 1971 ("the Rules") mandates a traveling allowance for a government servant transferred from one station to another, and this entitlement was denied to the appellant.

“The admissibility of travelling allowance is a separate component, which would not impact the legality of the transfer order, and any irregularity in admissibility of the travelling allowance would always be an issue, which can be cured at any point of time, in accordance with the (Rajasthan Travelling Allowance) Rules 1971. The determination of the admissibility of travelling allowance shall not be construed as a non-curable defect in the transfer order”, it held.

The additional advocate general argued that the failure to grant the traveling allowance could only be considered an irregularity, which could be corrected at any time, and noted that the state had already been instructed to pay the allowance to the appellant.

The Court, after considering arguments from both sides, observed that the legality of a transfer order is not impacted by the denial of a traveling allowance. The latter is a separate issue, and any irregularity in this regard can be rectified at any time.

In this context, the Court noted that since the state was willing to pay the traveling allowance to the appellant, the appeal could be resolved. Consequently, the Court disposed of the appeal and directed the state to pay the traveling allowance to the appellant in accordance with Rule 17 of the Rules.

Title: Suraj Mal Maliwal v the Director, Directorate of Ayurved Department Government of Rajasthan, Ajmer