The Andhra Pradesh High Court repatriated the services of employees who were brought on deputation to the services of the High Court after the abolition of the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal and directed the government to employ them at the disposal of the Finance/Human Resources/Planning and Policy Department, to redeploy them appropriately to their need.
Brief Facts:
The employees working in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal were transferred on deputation to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh after the abolition of the tribunal in 2020. The services of these employees were subsequently recalled and an effort was made to repatriate them which resulted in the filing of the present petition highlighting the fact that the functioning of the High Court would be adversely affected in case the said employees were repatriated.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent contended that the strength of employees in the High Court had increased from 320 to 923 which was substantially higher and much closer to the total cadre strength of 990 and thus the dire need for retention of the deputationists did not exist.
Observations of the Court:
The court observed that the existing employees of the High Court felt that their prospects of future promotion and seniority list would be affected if the employees were permitted to be absorbed in the services of the High Court and options were given to various employees to opt whether they wanted to be absorbed in the services of High Court but no further action was taken after the exercise of the option. The court observed that they were not made aware of the basis of such action when no such rules were in place permitting such an absorption.
The court further observed that the deputations who are working in the High Court need to be repatriated in view of the Communication issued by the General Administration Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, which has expressed its willingness to treat them as ‘surplus’ and further to keep their services at the disposal of the Finance/Human Resources/Planning and Policy Department of the Government for redeploying them at an early date.
The decision of the Court:
The court disposed of the petitions and directed the government to post the services of the deputations at the disposal of the Finance/Human Resources/Planning and Policy Department, for the purpose of redeploying them appropriately to their need.
Case Title: Gudapati Lakshmi Narayana vs. Union of India
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.V Sesha Sai
Case No.: Writ Petition (PIL) No.68 OF 2022
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
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