In a significant legal move, 2011 batch IPS officer Abhishek Mohanty, who was recently relieved from the Telangana cadre and his role as the Karimnagar police commissioner, has filed a petition with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Hyderabad. He is contesting the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) decision to allot him to the Andhra Pradesh cadre instead of his requested Telangana cadre.
In his petition filed on Monday, Mohanty argued that his long-standing ties to Hyderabad, which falls under Telangana, were not adequately considered by the authorities in the cadre allocation process. He claims that the failure to properly assess his domicile status resulted in a misjudgment of his eligibility. Mohanty, who has lived in Hyderabad for years, maintains that he is a permanent resident of the city, and thus should be allotted to the Telangana cadre as per the domicile guidelines outlined in paragraph 5.1.3 (I) of the Pratyush Sinha Committee’s recommendations.
The IPS officer pointed out that, in 2021, CAT had already ruled in his favor, recognizing him as a permanent resident of Telangana and asserting that he should not have been treated as an outsider. Mohanty further referenced a similar case involving IAS officer Lotheti Siva Sankar, who was recently allotted to the Telangana cadre after his domicile status was reconsidered by CAT.
Despite Mohanty’s repeated representation to the central government, the MHA’s order rejected his claim to the Telangana cadre. In response, Mohanty has asked CAT to review the case based on domicile grounds and to suspend the MHA’s order until a final decision is made.
Having completed his B Tech in computer science from Vasavi Engineering College, Hyderabad, in 2007, and joining the IPS in 2010, Abhishek Mohanty insists that the central government has overlooked his established connection to Telangana, urging the tribunal to reconsider his case and allow him to continue serving in Telangana until his plea is resolved.
The petition brings attention to the issue of domicile status in cadre allotment, as well as the importance of ensuring proper legal consideration in the allocation of key administrative positions.
