Hyderabad: The Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, has dismissed a plea filed by chief secretary A Santhi Kumari and directed her to give posting to senior IFS officer Ratnakar Jauhari immediately or appear before the tribunal on Jan 9 to face a contempt case for disobeying the orders.
A CAT bench gave two more weeks for the CS to comply with the order. The bench of judicial member Lata Baswaraj Patne and administrative member Varun Sindhu Kul Kaumudi passed this order.
Ratnakar is a 1994 batch Indian Forest Service officer. During bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh, he was allotted to AP contrary to his option for Telangana. Following a plea before CAT, he was allotted to Telangana in March 2022.
In the meantime, he went on a central deputation and after completing the tenure, he reported to AP which refused to take him in view of his allotment to Telangana. The central government too directed Telangana to take him into its cadre.
The CAT bench earlier took up suo motu contempt case against Telangana authorities for not complying with the orders of CAT and also the central govt. It ordered Santhi Kumari to appear before the tribunal on Dec 19.
Citing the assembly session and also the visit of the President of India, the CS urged the tribunal to grant her time to comply with the order. The state govt filed a writ petition before the high court, which dismissed the plea.
The tribunal noted these developments in its order and said that it will not tolerate the dodging attitude of the contemnors. The tribunal reminded the authorities that Ratnakar has been lying without a posting and salary for the last eight months.
Senior counsel G Vidya Sagar, who argued the case of Ratnakar in the past before the tribunal, said the situation of his client is peculiar. “He has now reached a stage where he does not mind going back to AP. But AP is not taking back because both CAT and the Centre have allotted him to Telangana which is not giving him any posting,” he said.
The case will come up on Jan 9.
