HC stays CAT order on IAS officer Ronald Rose’s Telangana allocation

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday suspended the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that directed the allocation of senior IAS officer D Ronald Rose to the Telangana cadre, reigniting the long-standing cadre dispute linked to the State’s bifurcation.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin passed the interim order while hearing a writ petition filed by the Union Government challenging the CAT’s directive.

CAT order put on hold

The CAT, through its order dated April 9, in OA No. 1614 of 2025, had instructed the Telangana Government to take Ronald Rose onto its service rolls.

The Tribunal’s direction came despite the officer being originally allotted to the Andhra Pradesh cadre at the time of the 2014 bifurcation of the erstwhile unified State.

The Union Government moved the High Court through Writ Petition No. 29636 of 2025, arguing that cadre allocation of All India Service officers falls solely under the jurisdiction of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), and not the Tribunal.

Centre cites Somesh Kumar precedent

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General B Narasimha Sharma drew the court’s attention to an earlier High Court ruling in the case of former Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, IAS.

Despite continuing in Telangana based on CAT orders, Somesh Kumar was ultimately directed by the High Court to report to Andhra Pradesh as per his original cadre allocation. The ASG argued that the same legal principle squarely applies to the case of Ronald Rose as well.

Swap request rejected by DoPT

The court was also informed that Ronald Rose had submitted a request to the DoPT seeking a ‘swap’ of cadre with another officer.

However, the Centre rejected the proposal on the grounds that the officers suggested for swapping were also serving in the Andhra Pradesh cadre, making the request untenable.

Pratyush Sinha Committee Report sought

Taking note of the submissions, the High Court not only stayed the CAT’s order but also directed the DoPT to place on record the report of the Pratyush Sinha Committee.

The committee had examined cadre allocations of IAS and other All India Service officers following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Case adjourned for six weeks

The Bench adjourned further hearing in the matter by six weeks and directed both the DoPT and the Telangana Government to file their respective counter-affidavits.