VIJAYAWADA: The AP High Court has made it clear that it is mandatory that a decision has to be taken when an official applies for inter-state deputation. Such an application cannot be returned without taking a decision, the court said and added that the responsibility of issuing an order on the application lies with the Appointments Committee of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
The court gave these orders while hearing the petition filed by senior IPS officer Sunil Nayak. The Bihar cadre officer came to AP on a three-year deputation on personal grounds on January 7, 2020. The deputation ended on January 6 this year and Sunil Nayak applied for an extension of deputation for another two years.
The State government sent the application to the MHA and the same was forwarded to the Appointments Committee of the DoPT. As per rules, the deputation of an officer can be up to five years. The Appointments Committee returned the application as an office memorandum without mentioning whether the deputation was extended or not.
Sunil Nayak approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, which dismissed the petition and directed the Appointments Committee to take a decision and give written orders at the earliest, on April 27. Sunil Nayak filed a petition in the High Court in this regard.
His counsels P Veera Reddy and A Srikanth Reddy said the CAT did not mention any time frame for the Appointments Committee and this may lead to inordinate delay. The court upheld the CAT orders directing the Appointments Committee to issue orders on the application within 45 days of receiving the court orders.