NEW DELHI, 11 Jul: The Supreme Court on Thursday summoned the chief and finance secretaries of 16 states for non-compliance with the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) recommendations on the payment of arrears of pension and other retirement benefits to the judicial officers.
Expressing strong displeasure over non-compliance with the SNJPC’s recommendations, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said, “We know how to extract compliance now. If we just say that the chief secretary will be present if the affidavit is not filed then it will not be filed.
“We are not sending them to jail but let them be here and then an affidavit will be submitted. Let they be personally present now,” the bench said.
Though seven opportunities have been granted to the states, it appears that full compliance has not been affected and several states are in default, it said.
“The chief and finance secretaries have to be personally present. Failing compliance, the court will be constrained to initiate contempt,” it said.
The bench directed the top two bureaucrats of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Odisha and Rajasthan to appear before it on 23 August.
The bench made clear that it will not grant any more extensions.
It passed the orders after taking note of the submissions and perusing the note provided by lawyer K Parmeswar, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae (a friend of court).
The bench directed the defaulting states to report compliance by 20 August, besides asking their chief secretaries and finance secretaries to appear personally on 23 August.
It rejected the vehement submission of Assam that the order be deferred as the state is facing massive flood situations.
The bench also did not allow the submission of Delhi that it is awaiting the Centre’s approval.
“We are not concerned with that. You sort it out with the Centre,” the CJI said.
On 10 January, the top court in its verdict had said there was a need to maintain uniformity in service conditions of judicial officers across the country.
It had directed the constitution of a two-judge committee in each high court for overseeing the implementation of the orders on pay, pension and other retirement benefits for the judicial officers according to the SNJPC.
The top court had said it was a matter of grave concern that, though officers in other services have availed of a revision of their conditions of service as far back as on 1 January, 2016, similar issues pertaining to the judicial officers are still awaiting a final decision eight years thereafter.
It said that the judges have retired from service and the family pensioners of those who have passed away are awaiting resolution as well.
The SNJPC recommendations cover pay structure, pension, and family pension and allowances, besides dealing with the issue of establishing a permanent mechanism to determine subjects of service conditions of the district judiciary. (PTI)
