The Kerala High Court on Tuesday heavily criticized the Union Government for failing to implement its order to appoint a chairperson for Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT)
. A division bench comprising justices A Muhamed Mustaque and Kauser Edappagath said the orders of the court should be treated with some respect. The bench also asked how can an ordinary citizen respect the court when the government fails to do so.
Orders of the court are not mere institutional orders but must be respected and complied with in accordance with law, the court said. The bench is considering a contempt of court petition filed by Kerala Administrative Tribunal Ernakulam Advocates Association alleging non-implementation of the court’s order to appoint a chairperson for KAT.
After considering the contempt case, the court had issued notices to union cabinet secretary and secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The petitioner had named Deepak Khandekar IAS, who heads DoPT, as the respondent.
During Tuesday’s hearing, a counsel representing the Union Government submitted that no instructions have been received from the Government in the matter despite communicating the directive more than once. He sought two more weeks to respond to the petition. In addition to the contempt plea filed by the advocates association, two other petitions filed by lawyers are also pending before the court. The union government has been named as opposite parties in them.
A contempt of court petition was filed citing that the division bench’s directive of June 1st to decide on the appointment of KAT chairman within three weeks has not been complied with yet. The advocates association had contended that the functioning of KAT, which decides service matters, would come to a standstill if there is any further delay in appointing the chairman.
The terms of chairman, administrative member, and two judicial members have already ended and the post of the chairperson has been lying vacant since September last year, it was pointed out. The court said it would issue notices for personal appearance of the officers concerned – cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba IAS and DoPT secretary Deepak Khandekar IAS.
