Hyderabad: CAT reallocates Telangana cadre to IAS officer Amrapali Kata

Hyderabad: In a major relief to IAS officer Amrapali Kata, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Hyderabad Bench, has reallocated her Telangana cadre.

CAT criticized the government for applying cadre allocation guidelines in a discriminatory and inconsistent manner.

Amrapali, a 2010-batch officer currently serving as the Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), had challenged the Union government’s decision denying her request for Telangana cadre, despite similar requests being approved for others.

The tribunal bench, comprising Judicial Member Dr. Lata Baswaraj Patne and Administrative Member Varun Sindhu Kul Kaumudi, observed that the Pratyush Sinha Committee guidelines on cadre allocation were not being applied uniformly.

While some officers were strictly bound by the rules, others were granted exceptions without valid justification, the bench noted. "Selective implementation of guidelines without a consistent rationale amounts to discrimination,” the tribunal stated in its ruling.

The CAT found merit in Amrapali's petition, highlighting that the government failed to justify why her request was turned down when others with similar cases were accommodated.

Accordingly, the tribunal directed the concerned authorities to initiate appropriate steps for her cadre transfer to Telangana, bringing an end to the prolonged dispute.