Supreme Court has taken strong exception to the way Tripura , and some other states failed to honour the Second National Judicial Pay Commission report on payment of arrears of pension and other retirement benefits to the judicial officers.
Having taken note of the non compliance of Tripura and also seven other North East region states the Apex Court issued summons to Chief Secretary an Finance secretary. The summons were issued on Thursday.
Besides Tripura, the seven other NE states are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur and Sikkim. Several other states and Union Territories also figured in the list for non-compliance of pay panel recommendations.
The court found that West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana too were non-compliant states and UTs.
A bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra voiced their frustration with the states’ inaction.
The Supreme Court judges in their observation expressed their strong disapproval and said : “We are aware of the tactics employed to avoid compliance,” the bench remarked. “Simply requesting the chief secretary’s presence for an affidavit submission won’t guarantee its filing. We have no intention of imprisonment, but their physical presence often expedites the affidavit process.”
The court highlighted that despite offering states seven opportunities to address the issue, full compliance remains elusive. Several states are now facing potential contempt charges.
“The chief and finance secretaries must appear in person,” the bench sternly directed. “Failure to comply will compel the court to initiate contempt proceedings.”
The top bureaucrats from these non-compliant states have been ordered to appear before the court on a specific date in August, which was not mentioned in the provided excerpt. This serves as a significant escalation in the ongoing dispute concerning the implementation of the SNJPC recommendations.
