India News | SC Sets Aside Telangana HC Order Seeking Personal Appearance of Ex-DoPT Secy in Contempt Case

New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the Telangana High Court order seeking personal appearance of senior IAS officer P K Tripathi, a former secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), in a contempt case arising out of a service matter.

The Telangana High Court has summoned Tripathi, a 1987 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir cadre, before it on October 21.

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A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the DoPT, that there was no personal allegation against the officer concerned and, moreover, the department had complied with the directions of the high court.

The matter pertained to adjusting the seniority of conferred or promotee IAS officers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

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The officers, who were appointed as deputy collectors through the examination conducted by the state public services commission, were to be considered for promotion as IAS officers by the Centre in a time-bound manner.

The top court took note of the urgency of the matter which had arisen out of the contempt case against the officer and said, “we deem it appropriate to consider the matter without issuing the notices to the other side.”

“In the circumstances, the part of the order directing the personal appearance of P K Tripathi on October 21 is set aside. However, Mr Tripathi shall tender the affidavit in the high court which may be filed through the counsel of the Government of India. With these observations, the instant petition is disposed of,” the order said.

At the outset, the law officer said the high court insisted on the personal appearance of the same officer despite the fact that a person, who was well conversant with the facts of the case, was entrusted with the task of rendering assistance to the court through the counsel.

In the affidavit, it was stated that Tripathi relinquished the charge of Secretary of the DoPT on May 11, 2022, he said.

The meeting of the review selection committee to consider the names of the officers for promotion as IAS officers was scheduled for October 17, in the office of the UPSC, he said.

Earlier, the Telangana High Court had issued the notice to the senior IAS officer asking him to appear and explain his stance as to why he did not implement the court's order on adjusting the seniority of conferred IAS officers.

(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)