The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Haryana to grant 10 “couple case merit points” under the Model Online Transfer Policy to a government employee whose husband is posted in Punjab against a Haryana share quota post in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).The Court ruled that the husband’s posting at Nangal in Ropar district of Punjab could not by itself deprive her of the benefit, as the post formed part of Haryana Irrigation & Water Resources Department cadre.“In the present case, the petitioner’s husband continues to hold a substantive Haryana Government cadre post and his posting in BBMB is against the specific share quota earmarked for the State of Haryana. The mere circumstance that, in discharge of the duties attached to such Haryana share quota post, he is stationed at Nangal cannot, by itself, alter the character of his appointment or sever his nexus with the Haryana Government cadre,” Justice Harpreet Singh Brar ruled.The Bench observed that the state government had itself clarified on January 12 that the share quota posts of engineers earmarked for Haryana in BBMB “constitute part of the cadre of the Irrigation & Water Resources Department, Haryana, and are sanctioned posts of the said department”. The incumbents holding such posts were, therefore, “not to be treated as employees sent on deputation to an independent organisation.”Justice Brar noted that the BBMB had specifically been included by the state government in the list of notified organisations under the Model Online Transfer Policy, 2026. Its inclusion “cannot be rendered otiose” by interpreting the condition regarding place of posting in a manner that “altogether ignores the peculiar statutory and administrative arrangement governing the Haryana Share Quota Posts in BBMB.”Justice Brar asserted: “Once the State itself treats such posts as an integral part of the cadre of the Irrigation & Water Resources Department, Haryana, the character of the post cannot be made dependent solely upon the geographical location at which the incumbent is required to discharge his official duties.” The ruling came on a petition filed by a regular Assistant Professor (Physics) in the Higher Education Department. Justice Brar’s Bench was told that she was been appointed on July 12, 2018, and posted at KT Government College, Ratia, Fatehabad district. The Model Online Transfer Policy notified on June 25 provided 10 couple case merit points, where the employee’s spouse was serving as a regular employee in a notified organisation and was posted in Haryana, Delhi or Chandigarh.The petitioner further added that she applied in the online transfer drive within the stipulated period. However, the merit-point details generated on August 19 showed that she had been awarded “zero)” couple case merit points.After hearing rival contentions, Justice Brar held the mere fact that the husband was stationed at Nangal could not change the character of his appointment or sever its connection with the Haryana Government cadre. “The mere circumstance that, in discharge of the duties attached to such Haryana share quota post, he is stationed at Nangal cannot, by itself, alter the character of his appointment or sever his nexus with the Haryana Government cadre,” the Court observed.Justice Brar asserted that denying the couple case merit points solely because of the physical location of the posting, while simultaneously recognising BBMB as a notified organisation and the post occupied by the husband as part of the Haryana cadre, would amount to “adopting a hyper-technical construction of the policy.”Referring to the anomaly that would result from such an interpretation, Justice Brar added an employee occupying a Haryana share quota post in BBMB at Chandigarh could be extended the benefit of couple case merit points, while another employee holding an identical Haryana share quota post under the same cadre but posted at Nangal, district Ropar, Punjab, in the exigencies of service, would be excluded.The Bench held such a classification “in the absence of any discernible nexus with the object underlying the grant of couple case merit points, cannot be sustained.” Examining the purpose of the transfer policy, Justice Brar asserted that it was framed with the object of “ensuring optimal utilisation of available human resources through a transparent mechanism”, besides enhancing administrative efficiency, promoting employee satisfaction and facilitating effective public service delivery.“The policy also recognises various special circumstances and provides additional merit points with a view to mitigating genuine hardship suffered by employees on account of their personal and family circumstances. The provision relating to couple case merit points is one such beneficial component intended to facilitate, to the extent administratively permissible, the posting of spouses at convenient stations,” Justice Brar added.Allowing the writ petition, the High Court directed the respondents to “award ten couple case merit points to the petitioner under the couple case category” and thereafter “recompute/recalculate her total merit score.”“Upon such recomputation, the petitioner’s claim for transfer shall be reconsidered strictly in accordance with the Model Online Transfer Policy, 2026, on the basis of her revised merit position and against the stations/preferences exercised by her in the relevant transfer drive. The necessary exercise shall be carried out expeditiously, in accordance with law,” Justice Brar concluded.