In a decisive move, the Hyderabad bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has directed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to reallocate IAS officer Siva Sankar Lotheti (IAS: 2013) to the Andhra Pradesh cadre within four weeks.
The order came during the hearing of a contempt petition filed by Lotheti, in which he alleged that the DoPT had failed to comply with an earlier CAT directive dated February 28, 2025. In that ruling, the tribunal had instructed the DoPT to take into account Lotheti’s Andhra Pradesh domicile and reassign him to his home cadre as an insider within a four-week period.
A bench comprising Judicial Member Dr. Lata Baswaraj Patne and Administrative Member Varun Sindhu Kul Kaumudi issued a firm warning to the DoPT on Wednesday, emphasizing that it must fully comply with the order and submit evidence of implementation by June 5. The bench also noted that failure to do so could lead to contempt proceedings against the responsible officials.
Lotheti, a 2013-batch IAS officer, has consistently pushed for reassignment to Andhra Pradesh on the basis of his domicile status, arguing that he meets the criteria for being designated as an insider under the applicable rules.
