The Calcutta High Court in Kolkata. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Observing that the legality, validity and propriety of transfer orders issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) have not caused any public injury, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday (March 31, 2026) dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the transfer of administrative and police officers in West Bengal.
“The transfer is an incident of service. If a transfer order runs contrary to any statutory provision, the aggrieved employee/officer can assail it in appropriate proceedings. In our view, the legality, validity and propriety of transfer orders which have not caused any public injury cannot be gone into a public interest litigation,” the order by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen said.
The ECI has transferred a large number of officers, including the State’s Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police and scores of IAS and IPS officers, since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force. The Trinamool Congress leadership has claimed that 395 officers have been transferred so far.
The PIL was filed by Arka Kumar Nag. The Bench noted that attempts were made to establish a nexus between certain senior politicians and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
“The petitioner made an effort to establish a political nexus between certain senior politicians and the respondent. However, as rightly pointed out by learned counsel for the ECI, no such persons against whom allegations of connivance, pressure tactics, etc. were alleged were impleaded by name. Thus, no allegation of malice can be entertained against the ECI. Apart from bald pleadings, no material could be placed to establish any such nexus,” the court noted.
During the proceedings, senior counsel for the petitioner, Kalyan Banerjee and Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the West Bengal government, argued transfer of a sizable number of officers and staff has created a vacuum. “Upon examining the rival stands, we do not find much substance in the said contention,” the court noted. The Bench further said the State of West Bengal, which supported the petitioner, is a respondent in the matter and “cannot enter into the shoes of the petitioner”.
The development comes as a setback to the Trinamool Congress, which has questioned the transfers.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases—on April 23 and 29, with counting scheduled on May 4.
Published – March 31, 2026 06:50 pm IST
