SC rejects review petition of Telangana for division of assets

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) The Supreme Court has dismissed areview petition filed by Telangana against its verdict whichhad held that the newly carved out state cannot claim"absolute" right over institutions, merely because they arelocated in its capital Hyderabad which is now being shared byAndhra Pradesh also. A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishrarejected the application for open hearing of the reviewpetition and dismissed the plea saying no case of review ismade out. On March 18, the apex court had set aside a High Courtverdict upholding freezing of bank accounts of Andhra PradeshState Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) on the ground thatnow APSCHE assets belonged to Telangana State Council (TSC) ofHigher Education, as it is located in Hyderabad. Noting that Telangana has claimed ownership over theentire funds and assets of the APSCHE, the apex court had said"this could surely not have been the intention of thelegislature while enacting the Reorganisation Act, 2014. "The main thrust of the argument…is that the successorState of Andhra Pradesh has absolutely no right over theinstitutions in the city of Hyderabad, by virtue of the factthat Hyderabad falls in the successor State of Telangana. "We are wholly unable to agree with this contentionadvanced on behalf of the State of Telangana. If thiscontention is accepted, it would render Section 47 of the Act,which provides for apportionment of assets and liabilitiesamong the successor States, useless and nugatory." Referring to the 2014 Reorganisation Act that had pavedthe way for creation of Telangana, the apex court had saidthat the issue of bifurcation of states was "both sensitive aswell as tricky". The apex court, in its verdict, had said, "the action ofthe Banks of freezing bank accounts of APSC is whollyuntenable in law, which must be set aside. "By no stretch of imagination can it be assumed that thecomplete takeover of assets of the erstwhile APSCHE by TSC, onthe ground that the State institution happens to be inHyderabad, which is now a part of Telangana, was what thelegislature had in contemplation while enacting theReorganisation Act, 2014." PTI MNL SJK RKSARC