CAT grants two weeks time to CS to comply with directions over IFS officer posting

A. Santhi Kumari
| Photo Credit: Subyendu Ganguly 10328@Hyderabad

Central Administrative Tribunal-Hyderabad (Telangana) bench has granted two weeks time to Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari ‘as final opportunity’ to comply with its order over giving posting to IFS officer Ratnakar Jauhari.

The CS has to appear before the Tribunal on January 9, 2025 if the order is not complied with, the bench said. The order was passed by the bench comprising Tribunal members Varun Sindhu Kul Kaumudi (Administrative) and Lata Baswaraj Patne (Judicial) in an original application filed by the IFS officer, posting the matter to January 9 for orders for contempt of court.

An IFS officer of 1994 batch, Mr. Jauhari was allotted to the cadre of undivided Andhra Pradesh State. By 2014 when separate Telangana State was carved out, he became Chief Conservator of Forests and opted for Telangana cadre. However, the government allotted him to AP cadre.

Challenging this, he moved CAT in 2016. Six years later, the CAT passed an order setting aside allotment of the officer to AP cadre and re-allocated him to Telangana cadre. With the Telangana government not giving any posting to the officer, the latter had filed another application before the CAT in 2024.

The CAT in its order observed that its order was not complied with by not giving any posting to the officer despite a clear direction from the Central government.

“On the contrary, they passed some instructions on October 25 which are nothing but wilful disobedience of the order of this Tribunal,” the CAT order said. Subsequently, the bench issued contempt notice to the CS. Questioning the order, the CS moved the HC by filing a writ petition which was eventually dismissed.

The IFS officer was not given any posting though he reported to the office of the CS in April 2024. He was not getting salary too till date. “It shows utter disregard to the orders of the Tribunal,” by the CS, the bench said. The CS did not turn up before the bench on December 19 despite specific direction.

The CS filed a miscellaneous application seeking exemption from appearance stating that she was occupied with the Assembly session and the visit of the President. The bench said that it was not happy with the averments made in the application by the CS and dismissed it.