NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court directed all states and Union Territories on Tuesday to “forthwith comply” with its last year’s direction to provide medical facilities to retired chief justices and judges of high courts, including their spouses and dependent family members, at par with sitting judges.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of a report filed by senior advocate P H Parekh, assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in the matter, which stated that only six states have provided the requisite information to him in pursuance of the court’s October 24 direction.
It had directed that retired chief justices and judges of high courts, including their spouses and dependent family members be given medical facilities at par with sitting judges and the expenses for treatment in private hospitals be reimbursed without prior approval of the state government.
The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said Tuesday that failure to provide medical facilities to retired judges of the high courts in terms of the earlier directions “will be construed an act of defiance” of the court order and chief secretaries of the states and union territories shall be accountable for this. (AGENCIES)
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