Counsel KV Viswanathan told the Supreme Court that after bifurcation of state, assets have not come to Andhra Pradesh.
A view of a metro train in Hyderabad. Most of the assets to be divided between Telangana and Andhra are in Hyderabad. (Creative Commons)
The Supreme Court on Monday, 9 January, sought the Centre’s and the Telangana government’s response to the Andhra Pradesh government’s plea seeking a “fair, equitable and expeditious division of assets and liabilities” involving institutions and corporations of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh between it (Andhra Pradesh) and Telangana under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh issued notice as senior advocate KV Viswanathan said that the bifurcation of the state, which took place by the 2014 act, provides for the sharing of assets and the way it has to be done, but assets worth crores of rupees have still not come to Andhra Pradesh.
The notice issued to the Centre and Telangana is returnable in April, even though no date has been specified.
In the last hearing of the matter on 16 December, 2022, the court had asked Andhra Pradesh to serve an advance copy of its petition on the Centre and the Telangana government, and had directed its listing in the second week of January 2023.
Noting that there were similar petitions pending before it, the court had asked the Andhra Pradesh government to serve a copy of its petition on these parties as well.
In the 16 December hearing, senior advocate Viswanathan had described the situation as “alarming” as “nothing has moved” since the bifurcation of the state in 2014.
Andhra Pradesh has sought the apportionment of assets specified in Schedule IX (relating to government companies and corporations) and X (continuance of facilities in certain state institutions).
In its petition, the state has said that though the bifurcation of the state took place way back on 2 June, 2014, and despite the apportionment of assets and liabilities has been conclusively made under the Reorganisation Act between the two states, the “actual division of assets has not even commenced till date”.
Andhra Pradesh told the top court that the situation is prevailing despite its repeated efforts to seek a speedy resolution of the outstanding issues.
Telling the court that of the 233 institutions mentioned under Schedule IX and X, and another 12 not mentioned in the Reorganisation Act, the assets and liability of “not a single Institution have been apportioned between the successor states”.
The total value of the fixed assets of 245 institutions that are to be divided between the two states is estimated to be about ₹1,42,601 crore, says the suit by Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh has pointed out that most of the assets to be shared between it and Telangana are located in Hyderabad.
According to the petition by Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad — which was the capital of united Andhra Pradesh prior to 2 June, 2014, and is now a part of Telangana — was transformed into an economic powerhouse not only as a result of the “Capital Centric Development Model” but also by “extensively investing resources of the combined state”.
The state also claimed that most of the institutions of governance, including government infrastructure, were built by utilising the resources of the combined state.
Andhra Pradesh has asserted that the non-apportionment of the assets has led to a multitude of issues adversely affecting and violating the fundamental and other constitutional rights of the people of Andhra Pradesh including the employees of the institutions in question.
“Without adequate funding and actual division of assets in terms of the apportionment made under the Act, the functioning of the said institutions in the state of Andhra Pradesh has been severely stunted,” says the suit by Andhra Pradesh.
Seeking a division of these assets at the “earliest” so that a “quietus” could be put to the issue, Andhra Pradesh has said that the long delay in the division of assets and liabilities between the successor states has adversely impacted approximately 1,59,096 employees working in these institutions, and their fate is in limbo since 2014 solely because there has been no proper division.
Andhra Pradesh has told the top court that it is imperative that all these assets be divided at the earliest, adding that “the position of the pensionable employees who have retired post-bifurcation is pitiable and many of them have not received terminal benefits”.
Pointing out that the institutions are an extension of the state and perform a range of basic and essential functions in diverse fields, Andhra Pradesh, speaking as a custodian of the people residing in the state, said: “The fact that their assets have not yet been bifurcated has seriously debilitated their functioning which has a direct and adverse impact on the people of state Andhra Pradesh, who they are intended to serve.”
Of the eight prayers on which declaration/direction has been sought, Andhra Pradesh has urged the top court to declare that the inaction of Telangana and the central government in not dividing the assets and liabilities of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh between the two successor states in terms of the apportionment made by the 2014 Reorganisation Act as being “arbitrary and violative of the Fundamental Rights of the people of Andhra Pradesh”.
It has further sought directions to make Telangana furnish details of all properties — both immovable and movable, including funds — of the institution of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh mentioned in Scheduled IX and X of the act and even otherwise.
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