Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 20: The High Court today warned the Public Health Engineering (PHE) or Jal Shakti Department higher officials of personal appearance in contempt proceedings for not implementing the court order passed 8 years ago.
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Facing the contempt proceedings for not implementing the judgment, Justice Rahul Bharti directed the Government counsel to produce the file from the Commissioner Secretary to Government Jal Shakti Department whereby the process for compliance of the judgment passed in the year 2016 has been initiated.
The direction came after the court was informed that the compliance of the judgment is being processed towards its compliance. “Let requisite file be produced on the next date of hearing”, the court said.
Justice Bharti has made it clear that in case the file is not produced, Court shall be constrained to direct personal appearance of the Financial Commissioner as well as Principal Secretary to Government, Finance Department, UT of J&K.
The HC observed that the Government of UT of J&K through all its departments concerned, be it General Administration Department (GAD), the Public Health Engineering/Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Finance Department have consumed all conceivable excuses and exigencies with respect to matter of compliance of the writ court judgment dated 11.08.2016.
The authorities in terms of the said judgment, services of the writ petitioners on account of being daily rated workers/work charged employees are mandated to be regularized under the aegis of Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work Charged employees (Regularization) Rules 1994, i.e, SRO 64 dated 24th March, 1994 from the date each and every petitioner was respectively entitled thereto without consequential benefits.
Three months’ time was made available by the writ court judgment at the end of the respondent-authorities to carry out the compliance. “The requisite compliance has yet to come to make its realization from the end of the authorities and the contempt petition filed in year 2018 has overstretched along with patience of this Court in putting up with routine excuses of the respondents to the contempt petition in carrying out the compliance of the writ court judgment”, the court said.
Justice Bharti observed that exhausted of the lame excuses from the authorities side, this Court, in terms of an order dated 11.09.2024, came to frame rule against one of named contemnors but even this indulgence has not made the things to happen at the end of the respondent-contemnors except saying that the matter has been forwarded to the GAD for seeking the final approval as well as relaxation of the rules to implement the judgment dated 11.08.2016.
“The seriousness of recurring noncompliance is perhaps lost to the writ respondents given the fact that even the Special Leave Petition (SLP) has come to suffer dismissal in terms of an order dated 18.03.2024 from the Supreme Court of India”, read the order.
The court further added that, the latest excuse to be put up before this court for earning time in carrying out the compliance is an intra-se communication between the Special Secretary to Government, Jal-Shakti, Department and Jahangir Dar, learned Government Advocate representing the respondents. “This court is not interested to know as to what are the contents of the internal correspondence/ communication”, the court recorded.
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