Finance, chief secies of 18 states appear in SC, say complied with proposals

New Delhi: In a rare sight, chief secretaries and finance secretaries of 18 states and union territories (UT) personally appeared before the Supreme Court on Tuesday to apprise it of whether they have complied with the Second National Judicial Pay Commission’s (SNJPC) recommendations on payment of salary, pension arrears and retirement benefits to judicial officers.

The top bureaucrats also sought exemption from personal appearance in future which was granted.

The Apex court was hearing a plea of the All India Judges Association (AIJA) on implementation of welfare and other measures for former judges and judicial officers.

“We have no pleasure in calling the chief and finance secretaries of the states, but consistently the counsels of states have been absent during the hearings,” a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said when senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for West Bengal, spoke about the state’s compliance with the SC judgement and directions.

In a spectacle of sorts, the chief secretaries and finance secretaries 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 appeared in the CJI’s courtroom and were seen

assisting their lawyers.

“I can see there is no substantive compliance.

They will have to appear before us,” the CJI had said on Aug 22.