Telangana HC stays CAT order on IAS officer Amrapali Kata’s cadre swap

The Telangana High Court granted an interim stay on the CAT order directing IAS officer Amrapali Kata’s allocation to the Telangana cadre through a cadre-swap arrangement, seeking a counter affidavit and raising questions over the legality of such swaps under service rules

Hyderabad: Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin of the Telangana High Court on Monday granted interim stay on a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that had directed the allocation of IAS officer Amrapali Kata to the Telangana cadre through a cadre swap arrangement.

The Bench issued interim directions suspending the CAT’s verdict and called for a counter affidavit from the officer. The matter has been posted after six weeks.

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The dispute stems from the Department of Personnel and Training’s (DoPT) order of October last year, which placed Amrapali in the Andhra Pradesh cadre. She challenged that decision before the Tribunal, arguing that she was entitled to allocation to Telangana. While examining her plea, the CAT took note of a proposed swap with IAS officer Harikiran and directed that she be moved to the Telangana cadre. That ruling effectively nullified the DoPT’s earlier allocation.

The Centre, however, questioned the legality of the swap arrangement and moved the High Court seeking a quash of the CAT order. The DoPT argued that the Tribunal had wrongly applied the swapping formula and that such an exchange was impermissible under service rules. It also pointed out that Harikiran belongs to a reserved category, and any cadre swap involving a reserved category officer would violate established norms.

After hearing the submissions, the High Court granted an interim stay, keeping the Tribunal’s order in abeyance for now. The Bench directed Amrapali’s counsel to file a detailed counter, noting that the issues raised touch upon broader questions relating to cadre allocation and reservation-based restrictions on cadre swapping. The matter will now be taken up after six weeks.