The cadre allotment dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for All India Services (AIS) officers remains unresolved even a decade after the bifurcation of the two states.
In a significant ruling, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Friday set aside the Department of Personnel and Training’s (DoPT) order allocating IAS officer Mr. Siva Sankar Lotheti (2013-batch IAS officer) to Telangana. The tribunal directed the DoPT to reassign him to the Andhra Pradesh cadre within four weeks.
The CAT bench, comprising judicial member Dr. Lata Baswaraj Patne and administrative member Mr. Varun Sindhu Kulkaumudi, ruled in favor of Mr. Siva Sankar, citing that his domicile is Andhra Pradesh. He had contested the Pratyush Sinha and Khandekar committees’ decision, arguing that they erroneously considered his domicile as Telangana based on his correspondence address rather than his birthplace, education, and permanent address as recorded in his UPSC dossier. After multiple rounds of litigation, CAT upheld his argument, reaching its decision within four months of his petition.
In October 2024, the DoPT had rejected the requests of Mr. Siva Sankar, Mr. C. Hari Kiran, and Ms. G. Srujana to continue in Andhra Pradesh, as well as those of Ms. V. Karuna, Ms. A. Vani Prasad, Mr. Ronald Rose, and Ms. Amrapali Kata to remain in Telangana. It directed all seven officers to report to their assigned cadres. The officers challenged the decision before CAT, but no interim stay was granted, leading them to approach the High Court. However, the High Court also denied relief, compelling the officers to finally join their allocated cadres—10 years after the state’s bifurcation.
The CAT ruling in Mr. Siva Sankar’s case is expected to influence other similar cases, particularly that of Ms. G. Srujana, whose cadre allocation was based on similar criteria. If she pursues her case before CAT, a similar ruling is likely.
Notably, Ms. Amrapali Kata’s case is linked to Ms. Srujana’s, as she had opted for Telangana under a mutual swap agreement with Ms. Srujana. Ms. Amrapali has argued that the DoPT denied her the right to swap with an officer of the same category and time scale. While CAT initially granted her interim relief, allowing her to continue in Telangana, the DoPT issued fresh orders following a High Court directive. The final outcome of her case may now depend on how Ms. Srujana’s case progresses.
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