After arriving at Vijayawada airport, he told reporters that he was here to report on orders from the Indian government.
Release Date – 12:30, Thursday – 1/12/23
Amaravati: IAS senior official Somesh Kumar arrived in Amaravati on Thursday to assume a new post in Andhra Pradesh, having been sacked as the state’s chief secretary after the high court annuld his allotment to Telangana.
After arriving at Vijayawada airport, he told reporters that he was here to report on orders from the Indian government.
“As an officer, I am ready to take on any responsibilities that are given to me by the government. There is no post big or small. Whatever position I get, I will work.
Somesh Kumar said he will meet Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and await orders from the Andhra Pradesh government.
Asked about reports that he will serve as an adviser to the Telangana state government, Somesh Kumar said no decision had been made. “Nothing has been decided. Let’s see,” he said, without elaborating further.
The Telangana High Court on Tuesday set aside the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) allocating Somesh Kumar to Telangana in 2016.
On the same day, the Indian government’s Department of Personnel Training (DoPT) dismissed him from the Telangana government and directed him to join the Andhra Pradesh government by January 12 at the latest.
The Telangana state government on Wednesday appointed Santhi Kumari as its new chief secretary.
The CAT’s Hyderabad bench passed an order on March 29, 2016 to assign Somesh Kumar to Telangana.
Following the split of united Andhra Pradesh into two separate states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, the federal government has reassigned IAS and IPS officers working in the undivided states to the remaining states of Andhra Pradesh and the new Formed Telangana state.
Somesh Kumar was an IAS from Bihar in 1989 and was assigned to Andhra Pradesh by DoPT.
However, Somesh Kumar has moved the CAT and obtained an order to retain his assignment to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. He has since continued to work in Telangana and became Chief Secretary in 2019.
DoPT has appealed to the High Court challenging the stay order against CAT Hyderabad branch.
