Hyderabad High Court orders joint panel for power staff division

 

The court indicated that a retired judge from outside the states is likely to head the committee. A division bench of Justice R. Subhash Reddy and Justice A. Shankar Narayana was dealing with a batch of petitions by employees of the TSGenco and TS Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd. challenging their allotment to AP. They also wanted the stay petitions by the TS government and the TSSPDCL to be vacated.

 

Advocates-General K. Ramakrishna Reddy of Telangana state and P. Venugopal of AP informed the bench that the chief secretaries of both states had failed to arrive at a decision on the issue. Mr Venugopal, said the AP government was differing over division of employees on the basis of their nativity and asking for division based on the population ratio.

 

Mr K. Lakshmi Narasimha, counsel appearing for some of the petitioner employees, said the TS government had agreed before the Centre to have a joint committee for distribution of employees. He said that as per Section 82 of the Reorganisation Act, the TS alone has the right to distribute the employees. 

 

Justice Subhash Reddy asked “When you have alone the right to do it, why have you proposed the joint committee.” Mr Ramakrishna Reddy said it was a mistake caused by official due to lack of understanding on provisions of the Act. 

 

Maintaining that prima facie Telangana has no power to distribute the employees, the bench said that a joint committee has to be constituted. The bench asked both the AGs to place names of four officers from each state before it by Friday.