Punjab and Haryana High Court summons Haryana Chief Secretary to explain decision to reject HC proposal to promote 13 judicial officers

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday summoned the Chief Secretary to the Haryana government to tender an explanation for rejecting the recommendation of the High Court for promotion of 13 Civil Service (Judicial Branch) Officers [Shikha & Ors v State & Ors]..The Court was particularly miffed by the language used in the rejection letter and said that it was per se contemptuous.In a letter bearing the signature of the government's Joint Secretary, Rashmi Grover, it was conveyed that the government has decided not to accept the High Court's arbitrary suggestions pertaining to the promotion of 13 judicial officers to the roles of Additional and District Sessions judges..The controversial letter read as follows:"The Constitution has conferred upon High Court a sacred and noble duty to give best advice or the opinion to the Governor. The High Court cannot act arbitrarily in giving its opinion to the Governor or else it will be a betrayal of trust. If the advice is not supportable by any material on record and is arbitrary in character, it may not have any binding value/effect.”.Taking a serious view of these statements, Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan of the High Court on Wednesday initially asked the Joint Secretary to appear in Court the same afternoon and explain the letter. "The language used in the said letter, in our considered opinion, is per se contemptuous. Accordingly, let the Joint Secretary to Government of Haryana who signed the letter be present in the Court at 2 PM to give the justification as to the manner in which the letter is addressed to this Court," the Court said. .When the matter was taken up on Wednesday afternoon, the Joint Secretary told the Court that the letter in question was endorsed by the Chief Minister. This led the Court to summon the Chief Secretary as well. The Chief Secretary to the Haryana government is expected to appear in Court today at 2 PM.Additionally, the Court also requested access to the original State file to ascertain which individuals were responsible for approving the issue of the disputed letter..The matter will be taken up later today.Senior Advocate Gurminder Singh and advocate Simurita Singh appeared for petitioners.Advocate General BR Mahajan and Deputy Advocate General Arun Beniwal appeared for the State government of Haryana, while Senior Advocate Munisha Gandhi and advocate Shubreet Kaur Saron appeared for another respondent in the matter..[Read Order]