New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed criminal contempt proceedings initiated by the Punjab and Haryana high court against chief secretary KAP Sinha and others in a case related to payment of pending dearness allowance and dearness relief to employees.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the additional chief secretary challenging the high court order to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Sinha and other officials. Senior advocate Vikas Singh appeared for the petitioner in the top court. “Why are you interested in sending the chief secretary to jail? During the hearing, the bench observed, “Government servants must herein come on contract basis. Then only they will have accountability.
The top court said it has perused the October 12 order of the high court and also a subsequent order, which directed the chief secretary to remain present before it in the matter.
“Stay of further proceedings in… until further orders,” the top court said. We will stay the contempt proceedings,” the bench told the counsel appearing for the petitioner seeking contempt action before the high court. On April 8, a single-judge bench of the high court had quashed a liquidation plan on payment of dues and directed payment of all “arrears/pending instalments” by June 30 at rates applicable to IAS/IPS/IFS officers.
The bench noted that the chief secretary was directed to remain present in person in the high court in the matter on Thursday.
