India News | Guj HC Asks Chief Secy to Issue Instructions for Compliance of Court Orders in Contempt Pleas

Ahmedabad, Jan 18 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday directed the state's chief secretary to issue necessary instructions for compliance of the court's orders for which contempt petitions have been filed against the government.

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State Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar was present before the division bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri in connection with a contempt plea moved by employees of grant-in-aid schools over non-compliance of the court's 2019 order.

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"Please, first and foremost, take stock of all contempt petitions where implementation is required. Please see to it that necessary instructions are given," Chief Justice Kumar said during the virtual hearing. The court is dealing with several contempt proceedings in which the state government has not complied with its orders passed years ago, he said.

"Of course, some of them are debatable issues. But, please ensure that you take stock of all contempt proceedings. Sit with your GP (government pleader) and AGPs (assistant government pleaders), take a call on this, wherever this is to be required. Short-term, immediate, long-term — whatever it is, you decide and please tell us," he told the chief secretary.

The court was hearing a petition filed by around 400 employees of grant-in-aid schools who had secured a court order in 2019 for the benefit of a higher pay scale. The court had then directed the government to grant the petitioners a higher pay scale with interest.

As the government did not comply with the order, the employees moved a contempt petition through their lawyer Sharvil Majmudar.

"We had moved a contempt plea after the government failed to comply with the court's order for nearly 2.5 years. The matter came up for hearing, and the Chief Secretary was asked to remain present personally before the court," Majmudar said.

The government has granted a higher pay scale to the petitioners, and has assured to pay interest in one week, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)