HC stays CAT order allocating IAS officer Amrapali to Telangana cadre

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday stayed the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order directing the Union Government to allot 2010-batch 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) challenging the CAT’s June 2025 ruling.

The court directed Amrapali Kata’s counsel to file a counter affidavit and adjourned the matter for six weeks.

CAT had earlier ruled in favour of the officer

In June this year, the Hyderabad bench of the CAT had allowed Amrapali Kata’s petition seeking her allocation to the Telangana cadre. The tribunal found fault with the government for selective application of the Pratyush Sinha Committee guidelines, terming it discriminatory.

The CAT observed that while the guidelines were enforced strictly in some cases, they were arbitrarily relaxed in others without justification, and said this amounted to unfair treatment.

Holding that authorities failed to explain why Kata’s request was denied while others were accommodated, the tribunal had directed the government to process her transfer to Telangana.

Present posting and background of the dispute

Amrapali Kata is currently serving as the Managing Director of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). She had approached the CAT after the Union Government rejected her request for Telangana cadre allocation in 2024.

She was one of the four IAS officers- Ronald Rose, Vani Prasad, Amrapali Kata and Karuna Vakati, who were directed by the DoPT in October 2024 to report for duty in Andhra Pradesh. The officers complied after the High Court declined to grant interim relief at that stage.

DoPT rejected Rrequests of eight AIS officers

On October 10, 2024, the DoPT issued orders relieving five IAS officers (including one already serving in Andhra Pradesh) and directing them to join their respective cadres.

At the same time, the Centre rejected requests of eight All India Service (AIS) officers five IAS and three IPS officers, seeking allocation to the Telangana cadre.

These officers were initially assigned to the Andhra Pradesh cadre after the 2014 bifurcation, but later challenged the allocation and sought transfer to Telangana.

Khandekar Committee and High Court’s 2024 direction

Following earlier litigation, the Telangana High Court, in its January 3, 2024 order, had directed the Union Government to reconsider the final cadre allocation of AIS officers strictly in line with the Pratyush Sinha Committee guidelines.

Based on this direction, the DoPT constituted a single-member committee headed by former DoPT Secretary Deepak Khandekar in March 2024 to re-examine the allocations. The DoPT’s subsequent orders were based on the committee’s recommendations.

Legal battle continues

With the High Court now staying the CAT’s order in Amrapali Kata’s case, the legal battle over the final allocation of AIS officers between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is set to continue. The court will take up the matter again after six weeks, following the filing of counter affidavits.