Telangana HC stays CAT order on IAS officer Ronald Rose

The Telangana High Court stayed a Central Administrative Tribunal order directing the allocation of senior IAS officer D. Ronald Rose to the Telangana cadre. The Union Government challenged the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, citing that cadre allocation rests solely with the Department of Personnel and Training.

By Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday put on hold an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) directing the allocation of senior IAS officer D. Ronald Rose to the Telangana cadre, bringing back into focus the cadre disputes that followed the 2014 bifurcation.

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A Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin passed the interim suspension while hearing a writ petition filed by the Union Government questioning the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

The CAT, in its April 9 order, had instructed the Telangana Government to bring Ronald Rose onto its rolls, though he had originally been allotted to the Andhra Pradesh cadre at the time of bifurcation.

The Centre argued that cadre allocation of All India Service officers rests exclusively with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and cannot be altered through Tribunal directions.

Appearing for the Union Government, Additional Solicitor General B. Narasimha Sharma referred to the earlier ruling in the case of former Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar. Though Somesh Kumar continued in Telangana for years based on CAT orders, the High Court eventually directed him to report to his parent cadre in Andhra Pradesh.

The same principle, the ASG submitted, governs the present case as well. The Bench was also informed that Ronald Rose had earlier sought a cadre swap, but the DoPT rejected the request as the officers proposed for exchange were also allotted to Andhra Pradesh.

After hearing the submissions, the Court stayed the CAT’s order and asked the DoPT to place on record the report of the Pratyush Sinha Committee, which had examined cadre allocations of IAS and other AIS officers after bifurcation.

The matter has been adjourned for six weeks, with directions to both the DoPT and the Telangana Government to file their counter-affidavits before the next hearing.