No escape from order: HC trashes Punjab’s review on Malerkotla courts

A day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed Gurpreet Singh Khaira to appear virtually before the Bench in a case concerning permanent courtrooms and judicial officers’ housing in Malerkotla, the IAS officer and Secretary, Department of Justice, on Wednesday “expressed apologies for any objectionable material contained in a review application”.

The apology came just over a fortnight after the court directed that the guesthouse and a residence currently occupied by Malerkotla Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police be vacated forthwith. The State, subsequently, filed a review application. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry asserted that a bare reading of extracts of the application showed that it was “bordering on contempt”.

Taking up the matter this morning, the Bench observed: “After hearing the counsel for the rival parties yesterday when the case was taken up, this court is of the considered view that the recalling of judicial order passed on September 12 cannot done based on an administrative decision taken by the Building Committee on September 2. Accordingly, the review application stands dismissed. The counsel for the State of Punjab is directed to comply with the order dated September 12 passed on judicial side”.

Fixing the case for further hearing on November 17, the Bench exempted Khaira’s presence “for the time being”. The directions came on a bunch of petitions filed in public interest by the District Bar Association Malerkotla through advocates SS Bahl, Gaurav Vir Singh Behl, Raageshwari Sharma and Jugraj Singh Chauhan.

The court during the course of hearing asserted that the sole ground apparently taken by Punjab was the building committee resolution passed on September 2, which accepted the State’s proposal to build permanent houses for district and sessions judges, including courtrooms, within one year.

The Bench added the building committee resolution was taken into account by the court while passing the order on September 12. “Therefore, state of Punjab or its functionary have no business to go behind the judicial order darted September 12”.

The Bench had earlier made it clear that the State’s repeated failure to provide permanent courtrooms and judicial officers’ housing compelled the court to intervene. “Looking at the large number of cases pending in Malerkotla and the State repeatedly failing to provide any infrastructure in the form of permanent courtrooms and residential accommodations for the judicial officers, despite formation of new revenue district of Malerkotla on June 2, 2021, and creation of Sessions Division at Malerkotla – subject to availability of infrastructure – way back in August 2023, this court is compelled, by reasons attributed to State of Punjab, to direct that the guesthouse presently occupied by the Deputy Commissioner and the other house occupied by the Senior Superintendent of Police, be vacated forthwith and appropriate allotment letters be issued in favour of the District & Sessions Judge, for official residence/courtroom (if viable) qua District & Sessions Judge,” the Bench asserted.

The Bench had also referred to its building committee’s opinion that the accommodation, presently occupied by the executive officers, could be provided to the judicial officers, if the promise of the State functionaries to construct permanent courtrooms and residential accommodation for the judicial officers was not complied with within a one year.