HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to file its counter-affidavits in all the writ petitions filed by the Union government challenging the orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on allotment of All India Cadre Service Officers (IAS and IPS officers).
The writ petitions, filed by the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), Ministry of Personnel Public Grievance Pension, seek suspension of the orders passed by the CAT, Hyderabad branch, in 2016 and 2017 wherein 13 AIS officers (IAS and IPS) working in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were allotted to the State of their choice.
The IAS officers are Somesh Kumar, C. Hari Kiran, G. Anantha Ramulu, Mallella Prashanti, Karuna Vakati, A Vani Prasad, D Donald Rose, Srijana Gummalla and Sivashankar Loheti while the IPS officers are Abhilasha Bisht, Anjani Kumar, Santosh Mehra, AV Ranganath and Abhishek Mohanty.
On Wednesday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili heard the writ filed by DOPT challenging the CAT orders following a plea by Abhishek Mohanty.
Officer questions decision
Mohanty had challenged the decision of the Telangana government not to accommodate him into the State cadre, despite the order of the CAT. Responding to his plea, the CAT had directed the Chief Secretary to appear before it on February 25, 2022.
Standing Counsel for Andhra Pradesh Govind Reddy informed the court that the 13 AIS officers, including Somesh Kumar, are the beneficiaries of the CAT order since 2017 under which they got to work in the State of their choice.
Though he was an AP Cadre officer, Somesh Kumar was shifted to Telangana State and now working as the Chief Secretary based on an interim order of the CAT. But when it came to Mohanty, the Telangana government failed to accommodate him, despite orders of the CAT. For the last six months, the IPS officer is without any posting and has not even paid a salary, Govind Reddy told the court.
Counsel for Mohanty informed that Somesh Kumar has implemented the CAT orders by accommodating other AIS officers except for Mohanty. This, he said was tantamount to discrimination and humiliating the IPS officer, who has 31 years of service. Such discriminatory treatment lowers his morale, counsel said.
After hearing the contentions, Justice Sharma said, “Justice should be uniform to all AIS officers”.
Bench changed
Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General Surya Karan Reddy, appearing for the Union government, informed the court that similar writ petitions are listed before Bench No. 2 headed by Justice Ujjal Bhuyan. He also said that the Centre is the final authority in allotment of the AIS officers to States.
After hearing the contentions of the ASG, Justice Sharma directed the High Court Registry to immediately send the file to Bench No. 2 for adjudication. In the afternoon, a bench comprising Justice Bhuyal and Justice A Venkateswara Reddy commenced a hearing of the writ petitions filed by the DOPT. The case was adjourned to March 24, 2022.
One IPS officer without posting
The TS government failed to accommodate Abhishek Mohanty, despite CAT orders. He is without any posting and not even paid a salary, his counsel said