HYDERABAD: A bench of Telangana High Court has granted interim relief to senior IPS officer Abhilasha Bisht by temporarily staying an order issued by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) directing her to join the Andhra Pradesh cadre. The court ruled that she should continue her service in Telangana until the CAT concludes its hearing and delivers a final verdict on the matter.
The bench, comprising Justice Shyam Koshi and Justice Nandikonda Narsing Rao, clarified that while it is not delving into the merits of the case, it expects the CAT bench to proceed independently and complete the hearing without any interference.
Abhilasha Bist, a 1994 batch IPS officer, was originally allotted to the West Bengal cadre. In 1997, she shifted to the Andhra Pradesh cadre following her marriage to an IPS officer from that state. During the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, she was allotted to the residual Andhra Pradesh state. However, she has remained in Telangana since then, aided by a CAT order related to cadre allocations. For over 11 years, she has been serving in Telangana despite being officially assigned to Andhra Pradesh during the state reorganisation.
The situation escalated in February when the government of Telangana, acting on instructions from the Union home ministry, directed the immediate repatriation of Andhra Pradesh cadre officers working in Telangana. This included Director General Anjani Kumar, Abhilasha Bisht and IPS officer Abhishek Mohanty. On February 22, orders were issued relieving Anjani Kumar and Abhilasha Bisht of their duties in Telangana, directing them to report to Andhra Pradesh.
Following this, Abhilasha Bisht challenged the Home ministry’s directive in CAT. The tribunal, however, upheld the government’s order and instructed her to join Andhra Pradesh. Complying initially, she joined the Andhra Pradesh cadre but subsequently approached the Telangana High Court challenging the CAT ruling.
During the hearing, her counsel argued that there is a long-standing dispute over IPS officer seniority and reminded the court that her seniority was upheld earlier by both CAT and the high court. Considering the arguments and her continued service in Telangana since 2014, the high court granted her interim relief, allowing her to remain in Telangana until CAT completes the ongoing hearing and delivers its verdict.