Telangana gets SC shocker on sharing of APSCHE assets with AP
The Court in March ordered that the assets be divided between TS and AP in the ratio of 58:42 on the basis of their population.
New Delhi: Telangana state suffered a setback on Thursday with the Supreme Court refusing to review its March 2016 verdict holding that TS was not entitled to the entire assets and deposits of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education (APSCHE).
The Court in March ordered that the assets be divided between TS and AP in the ratio of 58:42 on the basis of their population and if the two states did not agree for this arrangement, the Centre would constitute a committee to arrive an agreement in two months.
A bench of Justices V. Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra dismissed the review petition filed by the TS government saying “no merits” but kept the review petition filed by the council pending as it did not pass any order on this petition.
TS had estimated that it needs to pay around '25,000 crore to AP, if it wants to stake claim over these assets.
Freezing of accounts untenable: SC
TS suffered a setback on Thursday with the Supreme Court refusing to review its March 2016 verdict regarding assets. AP government had assessed the share at Rs 70,000 crore.
In March, the court had said that TS had claimed the entire funds and assets of the council. This could surely not have been the intention of the legislature while enacting the Reorganisation Act, 2014, just because the institutions are in Hyderabad, which falls in TS.
It said: “We are wholly unable to agree with the contention advanced on behalf of the state of Telangana. If this contention is accepted, it would render Section 47 of the State Reorganisation Act, which provides for the apportionment of assets and liabilities among the successor states, useless and nugatory. The action of the banks of freezing the bank accounts of APSCHE is wholly untenable in law, which must be set aside.”