Telangana HC directs IAS Officers to report back to Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court, on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, dismissed the petitions filed by Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officers, challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) ruling regarding their cadre. The court declined to stay the Centre’s orders, directing the officers to report immediately to their respective states.
The judge stated that the judiciary cannot interfere in such matters, highlighting that courts should not confirm the appointments of civil servants. “If we interfere, then there won’t be an end to this,” the judge remarked, adding that the officers must comply with their assigned postings per the CAT ruling.
The officers must report to their respective states today as per the directives. Among those affected are Amrapali Kata, the Commissioner of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), and Ronald Rose, the Energy Secretary and Chairman and Managing Director of Telangana Transco and Genco. Other officers impacted by the court’s ruling include Vani Prasad, serving in the Environment and Forest Department, and Vakati Karuna, who holds a position in the Women and Child Welfare Department.
Earlier, a group of IAS officers filed a lunch motion petition in the Telangana High Court challenging the CAT’s orders regarding their cadre reallocation. The officers involved in this petition include Vakati Karuna, Amrapali Kata, Srujana Gummala, A. Vani Prasad, Siva Shankar, Hari Kiran, and Ronald Rose.
The IAS officers sought a stay on the CAT verdict, which they claimed threatened their retention in the state of Telangana. The High Court accepted their lunch motion petition, and a bench led by Justice Abhinandan Kumar Shavili was scheduled to hear the matter at 2:30 p.m. today.
This legal challenge followed the CAT’s refusal to grant relief to the officers regarding their cadre reallocations. The CAT had earlier instructed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to prepare a comprehensive report addressing the officers’ concerns by the first week of November but did not suspend the Centre’s orders, which mandated that the officers report to their respective state cadres by October 16.
The IAS officers had filed petitions against the DoPT’s orders on October 9, which instructed them to return to their original state cadres due to the cadre bifurcation guidelines established after the 2014 division of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The officers argued that the decisions made by the Pratyush Sinha Committee, responsible for the cadre bifurcation, did not adequately consider their personal circumstances, leading to unfair reallocations.
The conflict originated from the bifurcation of IAS officers following the formation of Telangana in 2014. The officers, who have served in their current positions for nearly a decade, previously received permission from the CAT to remain in their roles.
HC Dismisses Pleas of IAS Officers: Refuses to Stay Centre’s Orders, Instructs to Report to Respective States
The Telangana High Court has dismissed the petitions filed by Andhra Pradesh-cadre IAS officers challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) ruling regarding… pic.twitter.com/IOV1mWcSRU
— Sudhakar Udumula (@sudhakarudumula) October 16, 2024
