The Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) has set aside the transfers of 205 Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspectors (AMVIs) after finding that the Transport department had deviated from the general transfer norms “for extraneous reasons.”
The tribunal has taken a dim view of the scientific performance appraisals that relied on monthly targets fixed for booking challans against traffic rule violators.
Irregularities alleged
KAT chairman C.K. Abdul Rehim issued the order recently while considering a batch of petitions submitted by the AMVIs, mostly those attached to enforcement squads in various districts, who alleged irregularities in the transfer order issued by the Transport Commissioner.
According to the petitioners, the department had invited applications for general transfer through the government’s e-governance portal SPARK. The notification stated that the AMVIs who had completed three years in the enforcement squads were entitled for transfer to field offices. Those who had not completed three years were also entitled to seek transfers to such squads in other districts. Some of the applicants had completed up to five years in enforcement squads.
Based on the applications received, a draft list was generated online through the SPARK portal’s transfer module which has been modelled to suit the general transfer guidelines issued by the government.
Manually finalised
However, the Transport Commissioner subsequently deviated from general procedure to finalise the general transfers manually. Marking a departure from the conventional practice, the department issued a revised set of guidelines that stated that the AMVIs who had completed three years in enforcement squads would be eligible for transfer to field offices only on the basis of their performance in road safety activities. The final transfer order, it claimed, was prepared after analysing a performance report prepared by the nodal officer of the Safe Kerala Project.
500 e-challans
The nodal officer assessed the performance of 319 officers of the enforcement wing and the number of challans prepared by them in connection with petty cases between January and May. The assessment found only 61 officers achieved the “fixed target” of 500 e-challans a month during the period. The remaining officers could achieve only monthly targets ranging from 1.8% to 59%.
Observing the process was “patently erroneous, irregular and unreasonable,” the tribunal ruled that evaluating one’s performance based on monthly targets in booking challans was unscientific and went against the objective of the Safe Kerala Project that aimed at curbing an increase in motor vehicle offences. It also found credence in the allegations of the respondents that the procedure favoured certain candidates in getting requested transfers.
