Punjab and Haryana High Court contempt notice to MoD, Army officers

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, October 22

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued contempt notices to senior officers of the Defence Accounts Department and Army Headquarters for non-compliance of juridical orders relating to the pension of ex-servicemen.

The Bench of Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan has directed the Principal Integrated Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Defence and the Additional Director General of Personnel Services at the Army Headquarters to file their response before March 13, 2024.

Non-compliance of AFT orders

• The Chandigarh Bench of the AFT had issued notice for contempt and arrest warrants against officers concerned after retired Honorary Naib Subedars were not paid interest on their pension arrears as directed by the AFT in 2017
• The MoD had approached the HC and given the undertaking that it would comply with the orders of AFT by August 30, 2023. However, the AFT Chairperson transferred the contempt case to the Principal Bench at Delhi

The directions pertain to non-compliance of orders passed by the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) by functionaries of the defence ministry, which breaches an undertaking given to the High Court by the respondents.

The issue concerns to the matter of retired Honorary Naib Subedars who were not paid interest on their pension arrears as directed by the AFT in 2017, and after repeated non-compliance and non-appearance of the concerned officers, the Chandigarh Bench of the AFT had issued notice for contempt and arrest warrants against the officers.

The MoD had then approached the High Court against the warrants and the contempt proceedings. Recording the undertaking that the MoD would comply with the orders of AFT by August 30, 2023, a Division Bench had then directed that the warrants would be kept in abeyance in case an affidavit of compliance was filed by the officers concerned by personally appearing in AFT on the date so fixed.

Though the officers then appeared before the AFT, the compliance affidavit was not filed, and rather, on the application of one of the officers, the contempt case itself was later transferred from the Chandigarh Bench to the Principal Bench at Delhi by the AFT Chairperson.

This had also kicked up a controversy, with the AFT Bar Association terming the move as an assault on judicial independence.