Big Victory for Female Bank Officers, Madras High Court provides Relief to Female Officers in Transfers

In a significant development for female officers working in Union Bank of India, the Hon’ble High Court of Madras has delivered a favourable judgment that brings long-awaited relief from prolonged tenure transfers. The verdict comes after more than two years of continuous legal and organizational efforts led by the All India Union Bank Officer Staff Association (AIUBOSA), affiliated with AIBOA.

The judgment was pronounced on April 28, 2025, in response to the Writ Petition 28838 of 2024, which challenged the practice of assigning longer tenure (lateral) transfers to female officers. This move had caused considerable concern among the officers, especially women, who found it difficult to manage both professional and personal responsibilities due to extended transfers.

What Does the Judgment Say?

According to AIUBOSA, the Hon’ble Court has issued a set of directions to the bank that must be followed when deciding such transfer orders. These directions aim to ensure fairness, equality, and consideration of the specific needs of female officers. However, the detailed instructions from the Court will be officially shared only after the full judgment is uploaded on record.

What was the case about?

The bank had introduced a new Transfer Policy wherein female officers were transferred on account of longer tenure in a zone. A writ petition was filed in court to quash the same and consequently direct the bank to provide for transfer of female officers at a place close to their spouse/ family as mandated by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services’ letter dated 08.08.2014 and repatriate the female officers who were transferred vide transfer policy circulated in staff circulars bearing No.7794 dated 01.10.2022 read with No. 8019 dated 30.06.2023 by permitting them to exercise option to return to home town or any other nearby place.

The Court has now ruled in favor of female Employees and will release the judgement in a few days and we will upload the judgement on our website hellobanker.in as soon as the judgement copy is available. Click here to join our WhatsApp group to stay updated on banking news.

• Also Read: Government Guidelines for Transfer and Posting of Staff in Public Sector Banks
• Also Read: Government guidelines on posting and transfer of Female staff in Banks

A Long Battle for Justice

The efforts to bring this issue to light began back on April 27, 2023. For over two years, AIUBOSA worked persistently to represent the concerns of female officers, highlighting the emotional, logistical, and professional challenges they faced due to lengthy and repeated transfers.

D.S. Ganesan, the General Secretary of AIUBOSA, expressed joy and pride over this achievement. He congratulated all officers, especially the women, for this historic win. He also appealed to all officers to continue supporting the association and align with AIBOA to promote justice, equity, and transparency in the banking system.