HYDERABAD: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Hyderabad bench, on Friday came down heavily on the chief secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for failing to initiate pension payments to Tej Singh Kardam, a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer. The tribunal dismissed an exemption petition filed by Telangana chief secretary K Ramakrishna Rao and recorded the virtual appearance of AP chief secretary K Vijayanand. The tribunal directed both officials to appear virtually on July 18 to resolve the eight-year-old inter-state pension dispute.
A bench comprising judicial member Lata Baswaraj Patne and administrative member Varun Sindhu Kul Kaumudi expressed dissatisfaction with the Telangana chief secretary, who had deputed an additional secretary to represent the state’s position. During Friday’s hearing, AP reiterated that it had already transferred the relevant records to Telangana. However, Telangana’s counsel countered this claim, stating that the documents handed over were irrelevant, and that the necessary service records are still awaited.The Telangana side also raised the issue of pending allegations against Kardam related to alleged irregularities during his service. However, Kardam’s counsel, J Sudheer, strongly refuted this, asserting that no such proceedings were pending, and that one of the earlier inquiries had already been deemed closed. He further argued that none of the counter-affidavits filed by the authorities before the tribunal mention any pending disciplinary actions, and that raising new grounds at this stage was legally untenable.The bench rejected the continued reliance on the absence of records as a justification for inaction, observing that every official record has a designated custodian, who must be held accountable. It further commented that the administrative machinery of both states is failing to function as per expected norms.The tribunal directed both chief secretaries to take necessary steps within a week to resolve the matter and appear before the tribunal via video conference on July 18, to brief the court on the progress made.
