Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday reserved its orders in a petition filed by the department of personnel and training of the Union government challenging a decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad branch, to allocate Somesh Kumar to Telangana State.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S. Nanda was hearing a petition of the Union government that sought to set aside the orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad branch to allocate 13 All India Service Officers, including Somesh Kumar — who were originally allotted to Andhra Pradesh — to Telangana.
Suryakaran Reddy, Additional Solicitor General representing the Union of India, informed the High Court that the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad branch, had erred in suspending the guidelines framed by the Pratyush Sinha Committee, confining its orders to the AIS Officers, who were before it. He said the Central government is the ultimate authority in respect of allocating these officials to the respective states, and the Pratyush Sinha Committee was constituted to advise the Central government.
Suryakaran Reddy said the committee had framed guidelines which suited all the AIS officers, who were allocated to the states, except these 13 All India Service Officers, who were aggrieved by the allocation.
Therefore, the additional solicitor general said, these guidelines cannot be termed as “arbitrary” for not suiting the 13 AIS officers.
“A majority of the officers in the batch even joined in their place of posting. The guidelines cannot be termed as contrary and arbitrary, until and unless there is something contrary in the statute or the Constitution.
Therefore, the findings that were given by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad branch, in suspending the guidelines is illegal,” Suryakaran Reddy contended.
