Good News for AP - origin power staff

Andhra Pradesh high court relief for AP-origin power staff

HYDERABAD: Making it clear that discriminating against a person based on his place of birth is unconstitutional, the Hyderabad High Court on Friday set aside the 'repatriation to AP' orders issued by Telangana electricity generation and transmission companies to 1,200 AP-origin employees.

This was the crux of the judgment pronounced by a bench of Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy and Justice MSK Jaiswal after hearing pleas filed by the aggrieved employees. The bench said the basis of 'nativity' is not proper in the light of the constitutional scheme . New guidelines have to be framed for division of employees through a joint committee within two months and its recommendations have to be implemented within another two months. Till then, there should not be any discrimination in respect of salaries and perks, the bench said.

The bench refused to intervene in the issue of promotions given to Telangana employees after excluding AP-origin employees. As separate pleas are pending about the issue, they will be dealt there, the bench said. As AP was made to pay a part of the salary of these employees, the bench directed the Telangana discoms to reimburse the same to the AP counterparts within three months.

The aggrieved employees were relieved by the Telangana power utilities and asked to report to AP units. The employees approached the court complaining that the procedure and modalities were not notified and they were asked to leave one day in a unilateral manner. At one stage, following court orders, both AP and Telangana started paying salaries of the employees in 55:45 ratio even as no work was given to them.

The aggrieved employees were relieved by the Telangana power utilities and asked to report to AP units. The employees approached the court complaining that the procedure and modalities were not notified and they were asked to leave one day in a unilateral manner. At one stage, following court orders, both AP and Telangana started paying salaries of the employees in 55:45 ratio even as no work was given to them.