HC raps Chief Secy for filing vague affidavit

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 27

Describing the state as the largest litigant, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that the non-payment of salaries to its law officers will affect the functioning of the courts. The assertion came as Justice Rajiv Narain Raina rapped Punjab Chief Secretary once again for filing a vague affidavit on the issue.

“The state before this court is the largest litigant and the law officers form an integral part of the justice delivery system and this court would be affected in its working if the law officers before it are dissatisfied even though their self-respect will keep them from coming forward to litigate asking for unpaid salary,” Justice Raina asserted.

As the case hovering around the non-payment of salaries to the law officers came up for resumed hearing, the Chief Secretary in an affidavit stated that all serving law officers had already been paid remuneration along with arrears, and the distance between sanction and actual payment has been covered.

Justice Raina said two paragraphs of the short affidavit were still chary and defensive. Particulars of actual disbursed amount, the dates of payment made to the officers and the arrears of salary had still not been disclosed. “To that extent, the affidavit is still as vague as the previous one”.

Justice Raina added: “There are old and respected traditions of the Advocate-General office and its law officers and their sacrosanct status in helping this court in doing justice. Therefore, the Chief Secretary, Punjab, would say what has been left unsaid in both the affidavits openly, candidly and without reservation with respect to disbursement of salaries and preservation of pay scales of law officers.

Justice Raina, on the previous date of hearing, had virtually admonished the Chief Secretary for filing an unsatisfactory affidavit. Justice Raina had added that the status report-cum-short affidavit was “far from satisfactory” and did not candidly explain the entire position “as to how many law officers are being paid salaries and how many not”.

Ludhiana scam

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered a probe by an IPS-level officer into the Rs 8-crore Ludhiana cooperative society scam. The directions by Justice Kuldip Singh came after the court was told that the investigation into the FIR by three IPS officers was withdrawn and handed over to a PPS-level officer "due to interference by SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar".

The directions came on a bunch of petitions by Charan Singh and other petitioners seeking a CBI probe into the FIR registered in the case on April 13, 2007, for cheating, forgery and other offences under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 409 and 120-B of the IPC at the Machhiwara police station in Ludhiana district.

The petitioner-cum-elected members had told the court that the Machhiwara Cooperative Agricultural Service Society covered 11 villages in Ludhiana district. A fraud running into Rs 8 crore of public money was played upon the society by the secretary-cum-cashier in collusion with others.

Contempt of court

The High Court has issued a notice to the Director, Department of Local Government, to show cause why proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act be not initiated against him for wilful disobedience of a court order.

The notice was issued following a petition by Kewal Krishan Jindal against Punjab and other respondents. He was seeking directions to the state and other respondents for release of retirement benefits. The case is distinctive as reply was not filed in the matter by the state for more than two years. The show-cause notice came after the state deposited costs of Rs 25,000 imposed on it. But the Director, ordered to be present in the court, failed to turn up.