The Punjab and Haryana High Court has initiated contempt proceedings against the Chief Secretary of the Haryana Government for deliberately disobeying the orders of the court.
This case is related to giving 15 percent reservation in government housing to the employees of subordinate courts, which was recommended by the Shetty Commission. The High Court said that a well-planned conspiracy has been hatched to prevent the implementation of this order.
Shethi Commission had recommended in 2003
A single bench of Justice Harkesh Manuja said that it is clear from the record that the Shetty Commission had recommended on March 31, 2003 that 15 percent of the houses from the general pool of government housing should be reserved for judicial employees.
Their allocation should be handed over to the Principal District and Sessions Judge or local senior judicial officer of the concerned district. This recommendation was implemented from April 1, 2003, but despite the passage of 22 years, no concrete steps have been taken.
Government changed the name of General Pool House
The court found that in May and November 2022, the government issued two notifications, in which the name of ‘General Pool House’ was changed to ‘State Headquarters Pool’. According to the court, this change was a clear attempt to circumvent the orders and mislead the court. Justice Manuja said that it is clear that the government deliberately tried to neutralize the orders of the court, which comes under the category of contempt.
Single bench order of 7 September 2011
The contempt petition was filed by Rajesh Chawla. The petition stated that on 7 September 2011, a single bench had ordered the implementation of the Shetty Commission’s recommendations in the Haryana Judicial Employees Union vs State of Haryana case. Apart from this, on 7 October 2009, the Supreme Court had also given clear instructions that all the High Courts should ensure that the recommendations of the Commission are implemented from 1 April 2003.
Chief Secretary will have to appear in person
The High Court said that this behavior of the government is clearly an attempt to thwart the relief given by the court, which is a disregard and contempt of the order. The court has initiated contempt proceedings against the Chief Secretary and ordered him to appear in court personally on May 26 i.e. today.
