'You Can't Shunt Him For Keeping Water Bottles, Shocks Conscience': Kerala High Court On KSRTC Driver's Transfer Over Bottle Row

Justice N. Nagaresh heard the matter in detail today with Senior Advocate K.P. Satheesan representing Jaimon and Advocate Deepu Thankan, the standing counsel for KSRTC.

The Court orally questioned the KSRTC whether there was any justification for the transfer. It orally said:

“In fact, it shocks conscience…The bottle found did not contain alcohol…You can transfer on administrative ground due to disciplinary issues. But every time an administrative issue comes, will you transfer? For transferring there must be some reason, some public interest. If a driver creates ruckus in his home station, he has a clash with some neighbours, etc., then you have to transfer because it will not be safe for him also or it may not be in the best of interest for KSRTC to keep him there. Or if that man is maintained there, he is likely to interfere with disciplinary proceedings, that is one reason. Or if he is capable of influencing the witnesses, then, may be. There must be some reason for exercising that power.”

Senior Counsel appearing for the driver argued that the running time of the route driven by Jaimon was around 8 hours from Ponkunnam to Thiruvananthapuram and since he did not want to cause any inconvenience to passengers by stopping at every depot to drink water, he kept two water bottles near the cabin. He also made out a case that no facility is provided to keep the bottles and since the engine gets heated up, drinking water is a necessary.

He thus opposed the transfer stating that it amounts to punishment while the petitioner had not done anything wrong. Referring to a circular produced by the KSRTC that bottles and bags cannot be kept near the front glass of the bus, the counsel said that this is with regard to KSRTC Super Delux Services alone, not Fast Passenger buses.

It was also submitted that the transfer order is due to personal interference of the Transport Minister and that transfer order do not reflect any reasons but merely says 'administrative convenience' in Malayalam. He further told the Court that the very interference of a transport bus by the Minister in the middle of a public road is an offence under the Motor Vehicles Act.

KSRTC standing counsel denied the allegation that transfer is due to the involvement of the minister. He said that a person took video and the incident came up in newspaper. While admitting that the Minister gave information about the incident to the higher authorities in the KSRTC, he submitted that the Corporation conducts inquiries based on complaints by any passenger or person.

He referred to a recent incident when disciplinary proceedings were initiated and transfer was based on a complaint made by a passenger that the KSRTC bus did not stop for him.

Referring to clause 11 of the Transfer Norms and Guidelines of the KSRTC, the standing counsel submitted that the present transfer was not a punishment transfer but only a transfer pending disciplinary inquiry, which power the KSRTC has.

He further submitted that KSRTC has been taking steps to ensure cleanliness inside buses and in bus stations. "This is not being followed by certain employees and KSRTC is taking steps against these persons. This incident is also part of the same, on the larger vision of the KSRTC to ensure cleanliness and attract more passenger to enhance its collection," the counsel said.

“You cannot simply, for water bottle on the front side. It is indiscipline, not doubt. That is work culture. It is basically a lack of work culture. You have to inculcate in some other manner… You are shunting him to faraway places,” the Court orally remarked.

The Standing counsel then submitted that Petitioner's main grievance is his transfer from Kottayam district to Pudukkad district, which can be reconsidered for a closer posting, if a representation is made after joining the present depot at Pudukkad, which the petitioner has not yet done.

At this point, the Court asked if the petitioner is willing to do so. However, the petitioner said he has done nothing wrong and he should not be victimized.

Detailed order is awaited. 

Background

The controversy arose on October 1, when the State Transport Minister, K.B. Ganesh, called up the media and stopped the fast passenger bus driven by Jaimon at Ayoor on its route from Mundakayam to Thiruvananthapuram and found the bus in an 'unclean condition' with empty water bottles piled up inside the cabin.

He was later transferred from Ponkunnam to Pudukkad on October 4. Aggrieved by his transfer, Jaimon had approached the Kerala High Court.