Srinagar: The High Court has directed the J&K government to complete the process of creating 334 posts for it within 60 days and also forbade it from ascertaining the court’s requirements.
Hearing an old case regarding the requirement of enhanced staff for the J&K High Court, Justices Atul Sreedharan and M Y Wani directed the official respondents to complete the process of creating 334 posts within a period of 60 days.
The judges took serious note of the concerned bureaucrats in the UT comparing “this high court with the high courts of Himachal Pradesh or Allahabad for (ascertaining its staff requirement) that matter is trying to draw a comparison of similarity between an Ambassador car and Mercedes-Benz only because they have four wheels, an engine and a steering”.
They put to notice the UT government and forbade it from ascertaining the requirement of the High Court saying “it is not within their domain”. This High Court shall understand and accommodate the UT if the question is restricted only to the issue of finances, the judges said.
“We would take very serious note henceforth if committees are made to sit and ascertain and assess the requirements of this court. If it is ever so done again, this court shall exercise its powers to initiate proceedings of contempt against those officers for their indiscretion,” the court said and listed the matter on January 29, 2025.
In pursuance to directions passed vide order dated 02.08.2023 by the High Court, a meeting on the subject was convened under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary on 23.08.2023. Principal Secretary to the Government, Finance Department; Registrar General, J&K High Court; and Law Secretary also participated in the meeting.
The proposal for the creation of posts was analyzed in the context of staff strength in other high courts based on the parameters of a number of posts against each sanctioned post of a judge and the number of posts against the ongoing cases.
During the meeting, the issue of the two separate benches at Jammu and Srinagar was also discussed. In an official communication, it was stated “the government has examined the staff strengths of high courts of Himachal Pradesh and that of Allahabad with two notified benches at Lucknow and Allahabad.
“The above is nothing but contempt of the court orders,” the J&K High Court noted and held “we need not reiterate that the recommendations made by the High Court/Chief Justice with respect to creation of posts are binding on the government and there is no discretion in the matter.”
It said “once the high court has given on the judicial side its requirement for 334 posts, the act of the government in stating that it would have to examine the requirement of the high court based on the parameters of the number of judges working in the high court and the number of posts against ongoing cases and also examining the requirement of this court of 334 posts while drawing a comparison with the high court of Himachal Pradesh and the Allahabad high court with its principal seat at Allahabad and one bench at Lucknow, is gross contempt”.
It was categorical that it is not for the UT to examine whether the requirement of the High Court is just or improper. “The high court through the Chief Justice is the sole authority which is entitled to decide its requirement and there can be no examination of the same by the executive. It is understandable if the executive had expressed its inability to comply on grounds of lack of funds but anything beyond that of examining whether the requirement is justified or not is an act of gross contumacious conduct,” it said.
The bureaucracy, according to the court, has misguided itself by trying to compare the requirements of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir with the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and the High Court of Allahabad.
The judges of the J&K High Court have unique requirements because of their attending to two wings at Jammu and Srinagar and therefore require more workers to function efficiently.
