ORDER P. P. Gupta, J. : - This petition has been filed by the petitioner, Bir Bahadur Prasad, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for a writ of certiorari, order of direction in similar nature quashing the order dated 27- 12-1990 of the State of U.P. respondent No. 1, removing the petitioner from the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer, Joint Organisation, Varanasi. 2. The facts of the case, in brief, are that the petitioner was working as a Special Land Acquisition Officer in the office of the Chief Engineer, P.W.D. Varanasi since March, 1990 when he was appointed as Special Land Acquisition Officer, Joint Organisation Varansi by a telex dated 2-6-1990. He joined there and took the charge of that post on 4-6-1990. Since there were some complaints against the petitioner, the State Government by a radiogram dated 27-12-1990 removed him from the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer, Joint Organisation, Varanasi, and posted him as officiating Deputy Collector, Varanasi. The petitioner has come by way of this writ petition against this order of the State Government. 3. In this case affidavits were exchanged between the parties and the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned State Counsel were heard at length finally at the admission stage. 4. It is not disputed that the petitioner was officiating as Deputy Collector at the time he was appointed as Special Land Acquisition Officer in the office of the Chief Engineer, PWD, Varanasi. He was neither confirmed on the post of Deputy Collector nor on the post of Special Acquisition Officer. Subsequently, he was posted as Special Land Acquisition Officer, Joint Organisation, Varanasi, where he joined on 4-6-1990. He was never confirmed on this post also. 5. As is clear from para 507 of Manual of Orders of the Government of Uttar Pradesh in the Revenue Department, Volume I, Chapter XVII, printed in the year 1967, the selection of the Special Land Acquisition Officer is to be made from amongst the Deputy Collectors. This para reads as below : "507. Every care must be taken in the selection of the special officer and ordinarily no officer of lower rank than a deputy collector, whether permanent or officiating, shall be employed on land acquisition work. This para reads as below : "507. Every care must be taken in the selection of the special officer and ordinarily no officer of lower rank than a deputy collector, whether permanent or officiating, shall be employed on land acquisition work. The officer so selected shall, if he is a permanent deputy collector, draw his grade pay and if he is an officiating deputy collector, the pay which he would have drawn from time to time in the scale of pay of deputy collectors to which he maybe entitled had he continued to officiate as a deputy collector in the regular line but for his appointment to this temporary post of special officer." Thus, the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer is not a higher post than that of Deputy Collector. They are at par only with the difference that the incumbent on the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer gets Rs. 300/- extra as post allowance. No process of selection in true sense is involved before posting a person as Special Land Acquisition Officer. The argument that the petitioner was selected for the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer, Joint Organisation, Varanasi, on which he held a lien and which was a post different than the post of Deputy Collector is misconceived. 6. The petitioner was not selected to hold the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer, Joint Organisation, Varanasi, is manifestly clear from the order dated 2-6-1990 (Annexure I to the writ petition) which is as follows : "Sri Veer Bahadur Prasad, Special Land Acquisition Officer in the office of Chief Engineer, P.W.D. Varanasi, has been transferred locally as Special Land Acquisition Officer Joint Organisation, Varanasi...." It is abundantly clear from the above order that no selection for this post was made. The petitioner was only transferred from the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer in the office of the Chief engineer PWD, Varanasi, to hold the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer, Joint Organisation, Varanasi. It is further confirmed from the impugned order which says that the petitioner is again being re-transferred to hold the post of Deputy Collector, which does not speak of any reversion, and rightly so, as the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer is not a higher post than that of a Deputy Collector. 7. It is further confirmed from the impugned order which says that the petitioner is again being re-transferred to hold the post of Deputy Collector, which does not speak of any reversion, and rightly so, as the post of Special Land Acquisition Officer is not a higher post than that of a Deputy Collector. 7. It was next argued that the impugned order is mala fide and violates the principles of natural justice as he was not given an opportunity of representing against the impugned order. 8. The impugned order is innocuous and does not cast any stigma against the petitioner. It is as follows : "Sri Bir Bahadur Prasad, Special Land Acquisition Officer (J.O.), Varanasi has been transferred locally and posted as officiating Deputy Collector, Varanasi........ It is not an order reverting him from a higher post to the lower post. No stigma is cast against him. It is purely on administrative ground that he has been asked to work as Deputy Collector. In the circumstances, there was no occasion for affording him an opportunity to make any representation or being heard. No principles of natural justice have been violated in his case. The fact that the impugned order followed an enquiry made against him on the representation made by some local M.L.A. will not make the order mala fide which otherwise is innocuous bearing no stigma against the petitioner and has been passed on administrative grounds alone. 9. For the reasons given above, I see no merits in the writ petition, which is hereby similarly dismissed with no order as to costs.