Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday stayed an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that had directed the allotment of IAS officer Amrapali Kata to the Telangana cadre.
The interim stay was granted on a petition filed by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which challenged the tribunal’s decision. The court directed counsel appearing for Kata to file a counter affidavit and adjourned the matter for six weeks.
In June 2025, the Hyderabad bench of CAT had allowed the plea of the 2010-batch IAS officer, directing the authorities to allot her to the Telangana cadre. The tribunal had criticised the Union government for what it described as a selective and inconsistent application of the guidelines framed by the Pratyush Sinha Committee, holding that such an approach amounted to discrimination.
Kata, who is currently serving as the Managing Director of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, had approached CAT after the Union government rejected her request for Telangana cadre allocation last year.
The tribunal observed that while the Pratyush Sinha Committee guidelines were strictly enforced in certain cases, they were arbitrarily relaxed in others without any clear justification. Finding merit in Kata’s arguments, CAT held that the authorities had failed to explain why her request was denied while similar requests were accepted, and accordingly allowed her plea.
Kata was among four IAS officers who were directed by DoPT in October 2024 to report for duty in Andhra Pradesh. The other officers were Ronald Rose, Vani Prasad, and Karuna Vakati. At the time, the High Court had declined to grant interim relief, and CAT had also directed the officers to comply with DoPT’s orders while their petitions were pending.
On October 10, 2024, DoPT issued orders relieving five IAS officers, including one already serving in Andhra Pradesh, from their existing postings and directing them to join their respective state cadres. The department also rejected requests from eight All India Service officers seeking allocation to the Telangana cadre. These included five IAS officers and three Indian Police Service officers.
All the officers had originally been allocated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre following the bifurcation of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2014. They later challenged the allocation and sought placement in the Telangana cadre.
The DoPT’s decision followed recommendations made by a single-member committee headed by former DoPT Secretary Deepak Khandekar, which was constituted to reconsider the final allocation of AIS officers.
Earlier, on January 3, 2024, the Telangana High Court had directed the Union government to reconsider the cases of the AIS officers for final allocation between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in accordance with the guidelines based on the Pratyush Sinha Committee’s recommendations. Acting on this order, the Khandekar committee was constituted in March 2024. – INAS
