The Hyderabad bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) refused to extend interim relief to senior IPS officer Abhilasha Bisht and directed her to be relieved from Telangana cadre and report to Andhra Pradesh government.
The Union home ministry on February 21 had issued orders directing Abhilasha Bisht, a 1994 batch officer, director, Telangana Police Academy and other two senior IPS officers Anjani Kumar and Abhishek Mohanty to be relieved from Telangana cadre and report before AP government within 24 hours.
Challenging the orders, Bisht approached CAT, Hyderabad bench which was heard on Wednesday.
The bench comprising judicial member Dr Lata Baswaraj Patne and administrative member Shalini Misra heard the petition and issued notices to the Centre, AP and Telangana, directing them to respond to the application of Bisht.
While issuing notices to the central govt as well as the states of AP and Telangana asking them to answer to the contentions raised by Bisht in the plea, the bench said: “She can go and join there and in the meantime. We will hear the version of the Centre and adjudicate the issue.” While Anjani Kumar and Bisht are DGP level officers, Mohanty is at SP rank.
Bisht's counsel requested the bench to stay the orders till the Union and the state governments filed their contentions. However, the bench did not agree to stay the orders.
As CAT was not inclined to give any relief, Bisht has to report to AP government and in the meantime, the bench will hear her application.
According to her petition, Abhilasha Bisht, a 1994-batch IPS officer, was initially allotted to the West Bengal cadre. After marrying an AP cadre IPS officer, she secured a transfer to the AP cadre in 1997. Her plea highlights the presence of two junior IPS officers, Sowmya Misra and Shikha Goel, who also moved to the AP cadre on spousal grounds before her transfer. Despite maintaining seniority above them for over two decades in the All-India seniority list, Bisht alleged that officials manipulated records during the state bifurcation, placing Sowmya Misra above her due to an earlier transfer date.
The bench clarified that while her petition would be heard in full at a later date, there was no justification to block the Centre's order at this stage, emphasising that AP, like any other state, requires senior IPS officers.
The case is set to be heard again in March, with the tribunal promising to review the seniority issue and the application of norms for all the affected officers.
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