A Division Bench comprising Justices S P Bharucha and R C Lahoti also declined the request of the State Government counsel for early listing of its special leave petition saying it would be heard in the due course.

Counsel for the State Government said Bhatia's service was required at the State Archives Department, where he was transferred on March 13.

The High Court on April 13 ordered Bhatia to take charge as Pune Municipal Commissioner on April 15 and refused the plea of Advocate General C J Sawant to grant a stay on its order to enable the State Government to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Bhatia was transferred as Archives Commissioner, barely six days after he took over as Pune Municipal Commissioner, in the wake of demolitions by civic body on illegal structuresallegedly owned by influential persons.

The High Court Bench, headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabrahwal, held that it was not satisfied with affidavits filed by the chief minister and chief secretary to the State Government which stated that Bhatia's transfer was not linked to demolitions.

The judges disagreed with the government that Bhatia's posting as Pune Municipal Commissioner would hamper the probe against him for allegedly leaking matters to the press.

Bhatia faces the charge of alleging that no progress was made by Krishna Valley Development Corporation because funds were not released. He also alleged that the government had gone bankrupt and had no money to compensate agriculturists.

The petitions, filed by Sunanda Das, Express Citizens Forum, Nitin Jagtap and Shekhar Tawde, alleged that Bhatia was transferred in violation of guidelines.

Bhatia claimed in an affidavit that his transfer was punitive in nature and was linked to demolitions.