Post-retirement benefits for judges’ case: SC stays HC order to take U.P. govt secretaries into custody

PRAYAGRAJ/NEW DELHI A day after the Allahabad High Court ordered the state’s secretary finance Shahid Manzoor Abbas Rizvi and special secretary finance Saryu Prasad Mishra to be taken into custody, the Supreme Court on Thursday put a stay on the order. The apex court also ordered the release of the two secretaries in the case concerning post-retirement benefits for judges in Uttar Pradesh.

The SC bench which stayed the Allahabad HC order was led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. The bench, also comprising Justice PS Narasimha, asked the SC registrar-general to communicate the order to the registrar-general of the high court.

On Wednesday, the two senior officers were present before the high court during the hearing of the plea concerning the facilities provided to retired judges. During the hearing, the HC directed that the two officers be taken into custody and produced before the court on Thursday (April 20, 2023) for the framing of charges. The HC bench, however, allowed the officers to produce a show-cause before it explaining why charges should not be framed against them for contempt of court. Subsequently, the HC directed to list this writ petition after decision in the special leave petition pending before Supreme Court.

The high court also issued bailable warrants against Durga Shankar Mishra, chief secretary, and Dr Prashant Trivedi, additional chief secretary (finance), through the concerned chief judicial magistrate to ensure their presence before the court on Thursday.

The HC bench -- comprising Justice Suneet Kumar and Justice Rajendra Kumar -- passed the above directives on a writ petition filed by the Association of Retired Supreme Court and High Court judges and one other party. Earlier, while hearing this petition, the Allahabad high court had, on April 4, 2023, directed the state government to immediately implement the proposed rule regarding increasing the facilities of retired high court judges in the state, sent to it by the Chief Justice of the high court. The proposal pertains to providing domestic help and other facilities to former chief justices and former judges of the high court.

Besides, the court also directed that while implementing this proposal, the earlier government order issued in this regard on July 3, 2018, should be superseded. Issuing the above directives, the court had further asked the finance department of the state to accord approval to the said proposal within a week.

In its order dated April 4, the high court also directed that the notification of the government order regarding the said proposal and the approval thereof shall be placed on record on the date fixed, which would be April 19, 2023. On Wednesday, when the matter was taken up by the court, an affidavit was filed on behalf of the state government.

After perusing the affidavit, the court noted that the order dated April 4 has not been complied with. Taking a serious note of it, the court observed, “Affidavit does not clarify as to why the government order as proposed by the law department was not approved by the finance department till date.” In the circumstances, having regard to the averments made in the affidavit and the conduct of the officers suppressing material facts and misleading the court, prima facie, have committed criminal contempt of the court, it added.

(With inputs from agencies)