Hyderabad: In a major break-through, concerning the inter-State cadre allocation disputes post-bifurcation, the Telangana HC on Monday suspended the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Hyderabad, which had permitted IAS officer Amrapali Kata to continue in the Telangana cadre despite her official allocation to AP.

The division bench passed the interim order while hearing a writ filed by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), challenging the CAT’s June 24, 2025 order.

The bench directed Amrapali Kata to file her counter and adjourned the case for further hearing after six weeks. The DoPT is seeking suspension of CAT order that allowed the officer to remain in Telangana. Amrapali Kata is MD, AP Tourism Development Corporation, at Vijayawada (Krishna district).

Amrapali Kata, who was originally allotted to the AP cadre after the 2014 bifurcation of the erstwhile united State, had approached CAT challenging her allocation. She argued that she had applied for cadre swapping with another IAS officer, C Hari Kiran, and sought to remain in Telangana on that basis.

The CAT accepted her plea and granted permission for her continuation in Telangana cadre—a decision that DoPT contested before the court. Appearing for DoPT, Deputy Solicitor-General Narasimha Sharma argued that the swapping request was fundamentally flawed and contrary to the Pratyush Sinha Committee guidelines, which govern cadre allocation after bifurcation.

He submitted that Hari Kiran belongs to SC category, while Amrapali does not. The pay scales of the two officers differed, making them ineligible for mutual swapping, as per established norms. Therefore, the CAT order permitting her to continue in Telangana was untenable.

After hearing the submissions, the court issued an interim suspension of CAT order. Both DoPT and Amrapali Kata have been directed to file their respective counters within six weeks.

This dispute traces back to the litigation in 2016, when CAT had passed directions on the cadre allocation of Amrapali Kata and seven other IAS officers between the two newly-formed States. Those orders too were challenged by DoPT, which secured a stay on their re-allocation to AP.