Summary
This Court had appointed a One-Man Committee (Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari) to divide power-utility employees between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh under Section 82 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. On 7.12.2020 it upheld the Committee's Concluding Report and final lists. Eighty-four employees on those lists were relieved by the AP utilities. The Telangana utilities then issued office orders leaving them out, again relying on reciprocity and financial neutrality. The Court held that the final lists bound both States, subject only to the agreed exclusion of employees reaching 58 in 2020. Departing from the lists and re-agitating rejected objections was wilful disobedience. The Telangana utilities were held guilty of contempt but given two weeks before sentence to absorb the petitioners and pay their salary from the date of relief.
Issues
- Whether the Telangana power utilities' office orders leaving out 84 employees named in the One-Man Committee's final allocation lists amounted to wilful disobedience of the Court's order of 7.12.2020.
- Whether the Telangana utilities could again rely on reciprocity and financial neutrality to reduce the number of employees they absorbed after the Court had rejected those objections.
- What consequential directions should be given to the relieved employees who had been left without posting or salary.
Provisions considered
- Section 82, Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014The provision required the modalities for distributing employees of State public sector undertakings between the successor States to be fixed. When the utilities could not agree, the Court entrusted the task to the One-Man Committee, whose decision was binding. (¶¶ 7.1, 7.2, 7.3)
Held
- The Court had directed that the One-Man Committee's decision would be final, binding on both States' utilities and employees, and executed as an order of the Court. Its order of 7.12.2020 upheld the Concluding Report and the utility-wise final lists. The only exception was the agreed exclusion of employees attaining 58 years in 2020. (¶¶ 7.3, 7.9, 8.0)
- All 84 petitioners were named in the final lists for TS Genco, TS Transco and the TS Discoms, and the Andhra Pradesh utilities had relieved them. The Telangana utilities' later office orders excluding them were contrary to the Court's directions and the Concluding Report and were wilful disobedience. (¶¶ 6.0, 8.0, 9.0)
- Reciprocity and financial neutrality had already been raised and rejected on 7.12.2020. Raising the same objections again was itself wilful disobedience: litigation must end, and repeated re-agitation would defeat the purpose of appointing the Committee. (¶ 8.0)
- The Telangana utilities were held guilty of contempt. Before sentence, they were given two weeks to absorb the petitioners according to the approved lists and to pay them salary and service benefits from the date of relief. Compliance would bear on the sentence. (¶ 9.0)
Result
Directions issued. TS Genco, TS Transco, TSSPDCL and TSNPDCL were held guilty of wilful disobedience of the order of 7.12.2020. They were given two weeks to absorb the 84 petitioners and pay salary and benefits from the date of relief. The matter was listed on 31.10.2022 for orders on sentence.