New Delhi, August 22 (MExN): The Supreme Court, on August 22, directed the personal appearances of the Chief and Financial Secretaries of 17 States or Union Territories (UTs) defaulting on the implementation of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission's (SNJPC) recommendations. The directions included clearing the salary and arrears, as well as the revised pension and arrears of lower court judges in accordance with the SNJPC recommendations.
Earlier on July 11, the apex court noted that although seven opportunities had been granted to the States to comply, full compliance had not been effected and several States were in default. Accordingly, the Court had given a final deadline of August 20 to file compliance affidavits.
When the matter was heard on August 22 by a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, the amicus curiae of the case submitted that, as per the responses received, 17 states/UTs had complied with the orders of the Court dated July 27, 2022, May 17, 2023, and January 4, 2024.
The states and UTs were: (i) Tamil Nadu; (ii) Madhya Pradesh; (iii) Andhra Pradesh; (iv) West Bengal; (v) Chhattisgarh; (vi) Delhi; (vii) Assam; (viii) Nagaland; (ix) Meghalaya; (x) Himachal Pradesh; (xi) J&K; (xii) Ladakh; (xiii) Jharkhand; (xiv) Kerala; (xv) Bihar; (xvi) Haryana; and (xvii) Odisha.
Accordingly, the order from the Bench, which also comprised Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stated: “We direct that, in terms of the previous directions, the Chief Secretaries and the Finance Secretaries of the aforesaid States shall remain personally present in Court on 27 August 2024 at 10:30 am.”
“List the proceedings on 27 August 2024 at the top of the Board,” it added.
It must be noted that in the January 4, 2024 order, the Supreme Court, among other directions, instructed all High Courts across the country to establish two-judge committees responsible for implementing the recommendations of the SNJPC.
