The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday directed Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha to explain why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for making a “prima facie false statement” in the ongoing dearness allowance (DA) case.
A bench, comprising chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor, passed the order in Sinha’s presence. The action followed revelations that the Punjab government’s appeal remains lodged with defects before the Supreme Court, directly contradicting Sinha’s Monday statement that a fresh appeal had been filed after curing all defects.
The directive came during a hearing on two applications filed by Punjab government employees and pensioners, who alleged non-compliance with the court’s August 3 judgment.
In that ruling, the court ordered the state to release all pending DA installments to employees and pensioners on a par with central government rates paid to All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers within a fortnight. 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 is yet to hear the matter because the state has not rectified defects flagged by the top court’s registry.
{{/usCountry}}The government failed to meet the deadline and filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on September 1. A month later, the apex court is yet to hear the matter because the state has not rectified defects flagged by the top court’s registry.
{{/usCountry}}Seeking clarity amid conflicting claims from petitioners and the state, the high court requested a status report from the Supreme Court registry on October 5. The Supreme Court registry report said that the September 1 appeal of the government had 11 defects, September 26 appeal of PSPCL seven defects and re-filed appeal also contained “numerous defects”. This prompted the petitioner counsels to demand contempt action against Sinha.
The Punjab government roped in Supreme Court senior advocate Vikas Singh on Tuesday, who accused the petitioners of “bench-hunting” and added that this court could not have heard the matter as jurisdiction lay before a contempt court (a single-judge bench). The contempt proceedings are already pending before the single-judge bench since August 21. He also cited tedious documentation processes in filing the state’s appeals before the Supreme Court as the reason behind the delay in hearing the appeal and sought an adjournment.
Appearing for petitioners, senior advocates Sanjay Kaushal and Chetan Mittal had vehemently argued that the chief secretary was to file a compliance report regarding the August 3 order and that has not been done. The applicants were also parties in the earlier round of litigation. Hence, the court could have entertained their applications, they submitted.
The court observed that refiling a defective appeal when almost a month has expired since filing of the earlier defective appeal, prima facie, indicates that the attempt was only to “misrepresent” the facts before this court.
“The fact that when the statement is made by the chief secretary on affidavit that the appeal has been re-filed, we expect that such senior person would ensure that an appeal correct in all respects would have been presented before the court particularly when a month has expired, since the filing of defective appeal,” the court said, adding that such an observation is being made as case was persistently adjourned only to “accommodate the state” and enable it to avail a remedy available in law. “The manner in which the state has chosen to proceed in the matter, therefore, cannot be approved of,” it recorded.
“From the materials placed on record, we prima facie find that there is a deliberate misstatement of fact made by the chief secretary before this court. We therefore issue notice to the Punjab chief secretary to explain as to why proceedings of criminal contempt be not initiated against him for willfully misleading this court by making false assertions,” the court recorded, seeking his response and presence on October 9.
Pargat questions govt accountability
CHANDIGARH
Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh on Tuesday said, “The criminal contempt notice to the chief secretary over the government’s submissions before the high court raises serious questions about administrative accountability. This is not merely a matter concerning pending DA instalments. It raises larger questions about the functioning of the administration and the government’s accountability.”