Tuesday – chief secretaries from 18 states and union territories appeared before the Supreme Court regarding the alleged non-implementation of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission’s (SNJPC) recommendations concerning pension arrears and retirement benefits for judicial officers.
The Supreme Court reviewed the compliance affidavits submitted by several states and union territories, including Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Kerala, and Delhi. As a result, the Court decided to close the proceedings against these states.
A bench consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra stated that chief secretaries and finance secretaries from states that have complied with the Court’s orders regarding arrears related to pay, pensions, and allowances for judicial officers are no longer required to appear in court. The Court emphasized that while it did not take pleasure in summoning these officials, it had faced consistent absences of state counsels during hearings.
The Court had previously summoned the top bureaucrats of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, and Odisha to appear before it.
