Chief Secretaries of 17 States, UTs to Appear Before SC Over Pension Arrears for Judicial Officers

The Supreme Court has summoned the chief secretaries of 17 state governments and union territories to address the non-implementation of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission's recommendations regarding pension arrears and retirement benefits for judicial officers. The high-level appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.

New Delhi:In a significant development, the chief secretaries of 17 state governments and union territories are slated to appear before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The apex court had summoned the chief secretaries for non-implementation of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission's (SNJPC) recommendations on payment of pension arrears and retirement benefits to judicial officers.

According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court’s website, a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear the case tomorrow on the plea of the All India Judges Association and 22 other similar petitions. The association is seeking the implementation of welfare and other measures for former judges and judicial officers.

The apex court had sought the appearance of top bureaucrats in states like Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Bihar, Haryana and Odisha.

Advocate K Parmeshwar, amicus curiae in the matter, had contended before the top court earlier that as many as 18 states and UTs have not complied with the SNJPC recommendations fully, though several orders have been issued.

Last week, the apex court noted that its order had not been complied with and ordered the personal appearance of the topmost before it. “They have to appear before us or we will issue non-bailable warrants (NBW) against them," the bench had said.

Many state governments had requested the court to allow the chief secretaries to virtually appear in the matter. However, the apex court had said that the top bureaucrats would have to appear before it personally to explain the delay. On July 11, the bench summoned the chief secretaries of 23 states for non-compliance with the SNJPC recommendations on August 23.