Shubhangi Shifa
Ranchi, Feb 4: Jharkhand High Court on Friday issued a summon against the Principal Secretary of HRD, Jharkhand for a physical appearance on February 11.
This summons has been issued by the High Court due to noncompliance of order passed by it issuing direction to the HRD to take policy decision for payment of arrears of 6th pay revision w.e.f 1.1.2006 to 1.3.2010.
Notably, the case is about the ‘payment of revised pension as per 6th pay revision, 4th pay revision and deferred DA for the period of 1979 to 1990 with promised interest thereupon’. As per Advocate Amritansh Vats, the lawyer for the petitioners, Prof Mahesh Lal Das and other petitioners are retired professors of Vinoba Bhave University. They had filed a writ petition in the High Court demanding payment of arrears of pension as per the sixth pay commission which should be applicable from Jan 1, 2006.
However, in spite of several orders passed in Contempt Proceeding, till date the HRD has not complied with the order of the High Court.
Notably, the Court had then ordered the government to make up for the disparity and pay the remaining sum to the petitioners on February 13, 2021. However, when the state did not comply with the order of the High Court, a contempt petition was filed by the petitioners once again demanding justice in the matter.
Advocate Vats submitted before the Court that several petitioners are retired professors above the age of 80. Several of them have passed waiting for compliance with of the High Court order, while some lie on their deathbeds. The concerned departments have been avoiding the order by the High Court and delaying the issue. This is a contempt of court and strict actions against the concerned officials should be taken for these delaying tactics.’
Despite several dates for the hearing, there were no answers given to the court justifying the delay in paying up the remaining amount to the petitioners. The court then in December 2021, ordered the department to either comply with the order or to appear in court on Jan 21, 2022.
However, by then, the court was closed and addressing a selected number of cases due to a rampant rise in cases of Covid-19. After this, the next hearing for the matter was held on Friday, but the Principal Secretary chose not to appear or took the effort to comply with the Court’s order.
As a result, irritated with the delay caused by the government, Justice Deepak Roshan ordered the Principal Secretary, HRD, Jharkhand to be physically present next Friday, February 11, else strict action will be ordered against the concerned officials.
