PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has quashed the transfer of a woman police officer stressing the need for her to provide special care to her autistic child.
Hearing a petition challenging the routine transfer officer of a Police Inspector (PI), the division bench of Justices M S Karnik and Valmiki Menezes overturned the decision of the state administration to transfer the officer from Ponda city, citing the importance of her proximity to her son, who suffers from autism spectrum disorder.
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“This Court cannot be oblivious to the special concerns which arise as in the petitioner’s case who is a part of the police force. The provisions of the Disabilities Act sub-serves the significant constitutional object of ensuring that women are not deprived of their due participation as members of the work force,” the bench observed.
“If we do not take the aforesaid view, in the facts of this case, the petitioner may be constrained to leave the work force or face trauma if the impugned order is given effect to despite the special needs of the child,” it said. The court noted that there was nothing adverse reported against the petitioner. “The child is in need of the support of his mother. The object of the Disabilities Act can be effectuated only if the petitioner is in close proximity to the child. The present facts are such that the child had to be re-admitted to the school in Ponda else he would have suffered demotion by two standards. The petitioner’s transfer outside Ponda in the present facts will be a barrier in the way of the child’s full and effective participation and inclusion in the society,” the court said.
“The petitioner’s transfer on completion of a tenure is a routine transfer. There are no compelling administrative exigencies brought on record in the present case necessitating such a transfer,” the court said.
However, the court clarified that the decision to quash the transfer was made on humanitarian grounds.
