HC restrains top official from withdrawing salary

Taking a strong cognisance of the issue of not complying with the order passed by it, the HP High Court today restrained the Director of Urban and Rural Development from withdrawing his salary till the time he does not comply with the judgment in question.

A division bench, comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rakesh Kainthla, observed that, “It is rather shocking to note that despite the order sought to be executed having been passed as far back as on April 10, 2017, the Director, Urban Development, is still praying for six-week time to implement the said order.”

The court further observed that, “Noticeably, it is nearly eight years that the aforesaid order has not been implemented by respondents despite it having attained finality, constraining the petitioner, who is a retired beldar aged 73 years, to approach this court by way of instant execution petition.”

The court passed this order on an execution petition filed by a former employee of Municipal Council Sunder Nagar, Mandi, seeking implementation of the judgment passed by the court whereby it had directed the state authorities to release the service benefits to the petitioner.

On the previous date of hearing, the counsel for the Sunder Nagar Municipal Council has placed on record instructions received from the Municipal Council Executive Officer, wherein it had been communicated that on December 23, 2024, the case of the petitioner had been submitted for approval to the Director, Urban and Rural Development for releasing the benefits to the petitioner. On December 26, 2024, the court had granted one-week time to take appropriate action/decision on part of the Director, Urban and Rural Development but till date, the order was not complied. Taking a serious note of this, the court passed the aforementioned order.