The Goa government told the Supreme Court on Friday that the State has aligned its pension payment norms for employees of the Bombay High Court's Goa Bench with that of the principal Bench [Re Pension Benefits for Employees Retd from High Court of Bombay at Goa].

A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the needful had been done in this regard.

"The Chief Secretary is present here before us. There is no dispute that now the rules published on 15/11/24 are in terms of draft provided by the High Court ... The High Court has already granted time of one year to the State (Goa) to pay the arrears. The State shall endeavour to pay the arrears as expeditiously as possible. No further directions are required to be issued. Writ petition is disposed of," the Court ordered.

The Supreme Court was hearing a suo motu case registered on the basis of a representation made by former employees of the Bombay High Court Registry, who claimed that they had not received pensionary benefits even after three to seven years of retirement.

Advocate Mahfooz Nazki was appointed as an Amicus Curiae in the matter.

The Court had earlier rebuked the Goa Chief Secretary for defending the State's decision to alter the rules prepared by the Bombay High Court for the recruitment and service conditions of court employees at the Goa Bench of the High Court.

The Court had questioned how such an alteration was carried out without even consulting the High Court's Chief Justice.

The Chief Secretary should be taught a lesson, the Court had remarked at the time, while ordering him to appear before it via video conference.

Accordingly, the Chief Secretary was present in Court today.

Since corrective measures have now been taken, however, the Court did not issue any further direction and proceeded to close the case after asking the State to pay pension arrears as soon as possible.

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