SC rejects T'gana's review plea on division of assets

The Supreme Court has dismissed a review petition filed by Telangana against its verdict which had held that the newly carved out state cannot claim "absolute" right over institutions, merely because they are located in its capital Hyderabad which is now being shared by Andhra Pradesh also. A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra rejected the application for open hearing of the review petition and dismissed the plea saying no case of review is made out. On March 18, the apex court had set aside a High Court verdict upholding freezing of bank accounts of Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) on the ground that now APSCHE assets belonged to Telangana State Council (TSC) of Higher Education, as it is located in Hyderabad. Noting that Telangana has claimed ownership over the entire funds and assets of the APSCHE, the apex court had said "this could surely not have been the intention of the legislature while enacting the Reorganisation Act, 2014. "The main thrust of the argument...is that the successor State of Andhra Pradesh has absolutely no right over the institutions in the city of Hyderabad, by virtue of the fact that Hyderabad falls in the successor State of Telangana. "We are wholly unable to agree with this contention advanced on behalf of the State of Telangana. If this contention is accepted, it would render Section 47 of the Act, which provides for apportionment of assets and liabilities among the successor States, useless and nugatory." Referring to the 2014 Reorganisation Act that had paved the way for creation of Telangana, the apex court had said that the issue of bifurcation of states was "both sensitive as well as tricky". The apex court, in its verdict, had said, "the action of the Banks of freezing bank accounts of APSC is wholly untenable in law, which must be set aside. "By no stretch of imagination can it be assumed that the complete takeover of assets of the erstwhile APSCHE by TSC, on the ground that the State institution happens to be in Hyderabad, which is now a part of Telangana, was what the legislature had in contemplation while enacting the Reorganisation Act, 2014.