HYDERABAD: In a huge setback to Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, the High Court on Tuesday canceled his Telangana cadre and directed him back to the Andhra Pradesh state. The High Court allowed the Central government petition challenging the 2017 Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) orders on the cadre issue.

The Department of Personnel and Training which is the coordinating agency of the Central Government in personnel matters related to Civil Servants which come under the PMO, appealed in the High Court saying it has the power, and not CAT, to adjudicate and officiate on matters of Cadre allocation and service rules execution.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Nanda delivered the verdict quashing the CAT orders, which enabled the AP Cadre officer to take charge as CS of Telangana and continue in the state.

However, the High Court allowed CS Somesh Kumar's request to keep the matter in abeyance for 3 weeks at the request of his counsel.

The Union government had reallotted IAS and IPS officers after the State bifurcation in 2014 under the Pratyush Sinha Committee, which oversaw the division of bureaucrats. Somesh Kumar was allotted AP Cadre and he had challenged the same in the CAT. The tribunal had quashed the allotment orders. The DoPT subsequently challenged the CAT order quashing the guidelines it framed for the division of All India Services (AIS) officers between the two Telugu-speaking states.

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