Even as Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha offered an unconditional apology on Friday, the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court referred his contempt case to the designated court.
The high court had issued a contempt notice to the chief secretary on Tuesday for making a “prima facie false statement” in the ongoing dearness allowance (DA) case of Punjab employees and pensioners.
“..this court is enjoined with the task of ensuring that the majesty of the court is not compromised in any manner. Even suggestions questioning the propriety in conduct of court proceedings must be dealt with carefully,” the bench of chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor observed while directing that the matter be placed before the bench having jurisdiction to deal with cases of criminal contempt. The case has been ordered to be listed for October 12.
The contempt proceedings against the chief secretary stem from the high court’s August 3 order.
In that ruling, the court ordered the state to release all pending DA instalments to employees and pensioners on a par with central government rates paid to All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers within a fortnight.
{{/usCountry}}In that ruling, the court ordered the state to release all pending DA instalments to employees and pensioners on a par with central government rates paid to All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers within a fortnight.
{{/usCountry}}The court also barred the state from indulging in “unproductive expenditures”, such as large-scale print or social media ad campaigns, until all dues were settled, directing the chief secretary to file a compliance affidavit by August 31.
The government failed to meet the deadline and filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on September 1. A month later, the apex court has yet to hear the matter because the state has not rectified defects flagged by the top court’s registry.
On the other hand, the petitioners–pensioners and employees–moved an application on September 3 before the chief justice’s bench that contempt proceedings be initiated against him as the August 3 order has not been complied with. It was during proceedings of these applications that the chief secretary had made reported claims about the state’s appeal before the Supreme Court.
When the state failed to cure defects and the compliance report was not filed, Sinha was summoned by the high court for Monday’s hearing, where he claimed that a fresh appeal had been filed in the DA case in the Supreme Court after curing all defects—a statement contested by the petitioners.
The same day, the high court sought a report from the Supreme Court registry about the status of Punjab’s appeal and found that it still lies in defects.
Upon the petitioners’ demand that contempt proceedings be initiated against the chief secretary for his “false statement”, the court on Tuesday issued a criminal contempt notice to the chief secretary and asked him to explain why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.
During the hearing on Friday, senior advocate Vikas Singh said according to the high court rules and orders, matters pertaining to contempt were required to be placed before the bench having jurisdiction over such matters as per the roster.
He further submitted that the chief secretary had no deliberate intent to make any false statement before the court. Should the court deem it appropriate, the chief secretary was willing to tender an unconditional apology, he submitted.
On the other hand, the petitioners said this was not a case where the offer of an apology deserved consideration by the court, particularly when the state’s conduct was “contemptuous and a deliberate attempt is made to scandalise the proceedings of the court”.