Chief secy of 18 states, UTs to appear in SC

New Delhi: The chief secretaries of 18 states and UTs are scheduled to appear personally tomorrow before the Supreme Court which has summoned them for non-implementation of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission’s (SNJPC) recommendations on payment of pension arrears and retirement benefits to judicial officers.

The top-most bureaucrats of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Bihar, Goa, Haryana and Odisha have to be present before the Apex court in person.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra has listed the plea of the All India Judges Association and 22 other similar petitions for hearing at 10:30 am tomorrow, according to the Apex court’s website. “I can see there is no substantive compliance. They will have to personally appear before us or we will issue non-bailable warrants (NBW) against them,” the CJI observed on August 22.

The direction came when senior lawyer K Parmeswar, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae (a friend of court), had told the bench that despite several orders and the extension of time, as many as 18 states and Union territories (UTs) have not complied with the SNJPC recommendations fully.

The All India Judges Association (AIJA) is seeking implementation of welfare and other measures for former judges and judicial officers. The bench said the top bureaucrats will have to appear personally to explain the delay and rejected the request of various states that the chief secretaries be permitted to appear virtually. On July 11, the bench had summoned the chief secretaries of 23 states for non-compliance with the SNJPC recommendations on August 23.