Supreme Court stays contempt of court proceedings against Karnataka Chief Secretary and other Bureaucrats

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A Supreme Court bench headed by CJI NV Ramana has stayed contempt proceedings against the Chief Secretary of Karnataka. The Karnataka High Court had initiated contempt proceedings against the Chief Secretary and some other top officials in a case concerning regularisation of certain employees of Zilla Panchayats and other departments.

The bench also consisting of Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for Karnataka government  file an additional affidavit explaining the steps taken for regularisation of wage earners who have been in service for sometime,

The matter was mentioned on Wednesday before a bench headed Chief Justice by Mehta for an urgent listing by the SG. During the course of the hearing the court further questioned the government of Karnataka as to why it had not considered the representation of the wage earners  for regularisation.

The Karnataka High Court recently summoned 15 senior officers including the Chief Secretary of the State to appear before it on 6th January for framing charges for non-compliance with the Judgment of the Supreme Court in State of Karnataka Vs Uma Devi. The High Court had also rejected the compliance affidavit filed by Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj Department in this regard.

Case title: State of Karnataka Vs Suresh Naik