F. No, 12012/12/2014-SR (Part) Government of India Ministry of Home Affairs weanns 5" Floor, NDCC-II Building, Jai Singh Road, Now Delhi, Dated: (April, 2017 To, The Chief Secretary, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Hyderabad ‘The Chief Secretary, Govt. of Telangana, Telangena Secretariat, Hyderabad Subject: Order in respect of Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE), Jn pursuance of Supreme Court's order dated 18.03.2017 in Civil Appeal Nos, 3019- 3020 of 2016, a Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of AS (LWE). Accordingly, Thave been directed to enclose an order in respect of APSCHE, Enel: As above O le (Ashutosh Jain) Director (CS-I1) Telefax: 23438147F. No, 12012/12/2014-SR GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS oan ‘New Delhi, Dated: April, 2017 ORD In the case of CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 3019-3020 OF 2016 (Arising out of SLP (C.) Nos. 14705-14706 of 2015), Supreme Court in its order dated 18.03.2016, inter-alia stated that “the assets of APSC of the undivided State of Andhra Pradesh, that is, assets existing up to the date of bifurcation may be divided betveen the two successor States in the population ratio of 58:42, 4s provided under Section 2(h) of the Reorganisation Act, 2014, if the two successor States are agreeable to the same. If the two successor States are unable to arrive at an agreement, the Central Government may constitute a committee, which may be directed to arrive at an agreement, in accordance with the provisions of the Reorganisation Act, 2014 within a period of bv0 months from the date such representation is maude to the Central Government” 2, Whereas, the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE), listed at Sr. No. 27, under Schedule X of the APR Act, 2014 is a statutory body formed and constituted under Section 3 of the Andhra Pradesh State Couneil of Higher Education Act, 1988, to advise the State Government in matters relating to Higher Education in the State and to oversee its development with Perspective Planning, The APSCHE continued carrying out the various functions assigned to it under the Act of 1988, including conducting common entrance examination for various courses in both the Successor States to the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh. On ascertaining the factual position, this Ministry was informed that both the States now have their separate Councils to catty out the work, called Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) for Andhra Pradesh. 3. Whereas, Section 75(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (APR) Act, 2014, which governs Schedule X Institutions, states “The Government of the State of Andhra Pradesh or the State of Telangana, as the case may be, shall, in respect of the institutions specified in the Tenth Schedule to this Act, located in that State, continue 10 provide facilities to the people of the other State which shall not, in any respect, be less favourable to such people than what were being provided to them before the appointed day, for such period and upon such terms andconditions as may be agreed upon between the bo State Governments within a period of one dear from the appointed day or, if no agreement is reached within the said period, as may be fixed by order of the Central Government.” Section 49 of the APR Act inter-alia states that “the total of the cash balances in all treasuries of the existing State of Andhra Pradesh and the credit balances of the existing State of Andhra Pradesh with the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India or any other bank immediately before the appointed day shall be divided between the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the basis of population ratio." 4. Whereas, afier the Telangana issued orders adapting the A.P. State Council of Higher Education Act, 1988, for urcation of erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh, the Government of Telangana State and accordingly Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) has deemed to have come into force with effect from 02.06.2014, ned that “the issue of bifurcation of States is both sensitive as well as tricky. Adequate care has to be taken by the legislature while drafting legislations such as the Reorganisation Act, 2014 to ensure a smooth division of all assets, liabilities and funds between the States to make sure that the interests of the citizens living in these States are protected adequately. Therefore, eare must be taken to ensure that no discrimination is done against either of the Successor State. Thus while interpreting statutes of such nature, the courts must ensure that all parts of the statute are given effect to.” 5. Whereas, the Supreme Court in its detailed judgement has ment 5.2 Whereas, the Hon’ble Court in its judgment has further referred the observation of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of H.H. Maharajadhiraja Madhav Rao Jivaji Rao Scindia Bahadur of Gwalior & Ors. v. Union of india “ihe Court will interpret a statute as far as possible, agreeably to justice and reason that in case of two or more interpretations, one which is more reasonable and just will be adopted, for there is always a presumption against the law maker intending injustice and unreason. The court will avoid imputing to the Legislature an intention to enact a provision which flouts notions of justice and norms of faigplay, unless a contrary intention is manifest from words plain and unambiguous.” 5.3 Whereas, the Hon’ble court in its judgment has further referred the observation of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Reserve Bank of India v. Peerless General Finance and Investment Co. Ltd, that “Interpretation must depend on the text and context, They are the basis of interpretation. One may well say if the text is the texture, context is what gives the colour. Neither can be ignored. Both are important. That interpretation is best which makes the textual interpretation match the contextual,” 54 Whereas, the Court laid emphasis on Section 47 of the Act and also quoted Section 47 (4) “Any dispute regarding the amount of financial assets and liabilities shall be settled through mutual agreement, failing which by order by the Central Government on the advice of theComptroller and Auditor-General of India’. Further Section 49, which deals with Treasury and Bank Balances, read as under: “the total of the cash balances in all treasuries of the existing State of Andhra Pradesh and the credit balances of the existing State of Andhra Pradesh with the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India or any other bank immediately before the appointed day shall be divided between the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the basis of population ratio....”” 6. Whereas, Section 48 (1) of the APR Act, 2014 inter-alia states “Subject 10 the other provisions of this Part, all land and ail stores, articles and other goods belonging to the existing State of Andhra Pradesh shall, — (@) if within the transferred territory, pass to the State of Telangana: or (b) in any other ease, remain the property of the State of Andhra Pradesh: Provided that in case of properties situated outside the existing State of Andhra Pradesh, such Properties shall be apportioned between the successor States on the basis of population ratio:” Further, Section 48 (4) of the APR Act, 2014 states that “the expression “land” includes immovable property of every kind and any rights in or over such property, and the expression “goods” does not include coins, bank notes and currency notes.” Therefore, keeping in view the above provision, movable and immovable property will be apportioned on location basis. 7. Whereas, as mentioned in para 4 above, Section 75 (1) inter-alia states that “The Government of the State of Andhra Pradesh or the State of Telangana, as the case may be, shall, in respect of the institutions specified in the Tenth Schedule to this Act, located in that State, continue to provide facilities to the people of the other State which shall not, in any respect, be less favourable to such people than what were being provided to them before the appointed day..." However, both the States now have their separate council functioning and providing facilities to respective districts of the successor States. 8. Whereas, in pursuance of Supreme Court's order dated 18.03.2016 and representation received from the Govt, of Andhra Pradesh, the Central Govemment constituted a Committee in August, 2016 under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary (LWE), Ministry of Home Affairs, comprising of two members each from both States for resolving the dispute. The following efforts were made by the Committee for resolving the issue: (Inthe first meeting of the Committee, held on 23.09.2016, the committee discussed the issue in detail and viewpoints of both States were shared during the meeting, Following theprinciple of natural justice, the committee suggested that the mutual settlement through negotiation between both the States would be the best way to resolve such type of disputes, The representatives of both the States agreed for negotiation on this issue between them. It was decided to hold a mutual meeting in Hyderabad. (i) The mutual meeting between both the States was held on 18.10.2016 at Hyderabad. In the meeting, the State of Telangana stated that they had received a proposal dated 16.04.2016 from the Govt. of AP regarding division of assets and liabilities of APSCHE and their response would be communicated within a week Later, the Govt, of Telangana, vide letter dated 01.11.2016, stated that the proposal of Govt. of AP has been examined in accordance with the provisions of APR Act, 2014 and in terms of directions of Supreme Court, the same is not agreeable to the State of Telangana, Gii) Thereafter another meeting of the Committee was held on 13.01.2017. It was observed that both the States have failed to reach at an agreement, even after an opportunity being given to them. After discussing the matter at length, finally the chair directed both the States to submit written argument, if any, latest in ten days’ time. A speaking order will thereafter be passed after teking into account their submissions and on the basis of the proceedings of the issue. In nutshell, both the States were given ample opportunity to arrive at an agreement through natural justice. However, it was found that no agreement is emerging between both the States to settle the issue amicably. 9. Whereas, keeping in view the observations of the Supreme Court and factual position in respect of both the States having separate councils, Section 49 of the Act would be invoked in this case, on the ground that whatever funds the APSCHE has, as on the date of bifurcation ic. 2™ June 2014 and up to the date of common facility provided by it to both the State Govemmenis, ate the funds collected from the districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 10. Therefore, the Central Government hereby makes the following order, namely: (a) Assets: Keeping in view the provisions of Section 48 (1) of the APR Act, 2014, read with Section 48 (4), all the immoveable and moveable properties such as land and all stores, articles and other goods etc. will be apportioned on location basis. (b) Cash bal: As per Section 49 of APR Act, 2014, Cash balances in form of Fixed Deposits and Bank Balance in respect of erstwhile APSCHE would be divided in population ratio (58.32:41.68) as given below:(@ Cash balances as on 01.06.2014; and (ii) Cash balances from 02.06.2014 up to the date by which common service has been provided by APSCHE to both the States. (© Employees: All the employees presently working in TSCHE, Telangana will remain in TSCHE. Keeping in view that both the States now have separate councils, for the work carried out by the earlier APSCHE for the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh, having exclusive Jurisdiction over the districts, very likely the workload of earlier APSCHE may have reduced. So, any excess employee working in the earlier APSCHE is to be declared surplus, and the same would be done on the basis of seniority (aideep Govind) nal Secretary to the Government of India Addit Copy 1. The Chief Sceretary, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. 2, The Chief Secretary, Govt. of Telangana,a SPEED POST, DELHI ‘SPEED POST BOOKING LIST (An 180 9001 : 2008 Certified Otfice) SERS secorest Dated: 19/04/2017 Weight of | Speed Post ‘S.No. Receipt No. ‘Addressee and Destination the Article | Charge Rs. P. 1 [12012/2/2014-SR | The Chief Secretary, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, +8-APR 2017 Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Hyderabad “ | 12012/12/2014SR | The Chief Secretary, Govt. of Telangana, Telangana Secretariat, Hyderabad 70.