Contempt Charges Framed Against PWD Principal Secretary Ajay Chauhan
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Taking a stern stance against bureaucratic inertia, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has framed formal contempt charges against the Principal Secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD), Ajay Chauhan. The punitive judicial action follows persistent non-compliance with a binding court directive regarding the re-determination of salaries, payment of accumulated arrears, and revision of pensions for retired and serving personnel. Presiding over the proceedings on Tuesday, a single-judge bench of Justice Saurabh Lavania pulled up top administrative officers for defying explicit judicial mandates for over four years, warning that defiance of confirmed court verdicts strikes at the heart of the rule of law.
Top Bureaucracy Under Fire: Five Senior IAS Officers Given 15 Days to Answer Charges
The High Court expanded its contempt net to include five high-ranking administrative heads governing major state infrastructure and finance departments:
Contempt Net Widens: Alongside PWD Principal Secretary Ajay Chauhan, the court had earlier framed contempt charges on October 5 against four other senior bureaucrats: Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Deepak Kumar, Principal Secretary (Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply and Minor Irrigation) Anurag Srivastava, Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Anil Garg, and Principal Secretary (Rural Engineering Department) Saurabh Babu.
Two-Week Ultimatum: Justice Saurabh Lavania granted all five officials a strict 15-day window to file their formal replies explaining why punitive action under the Contempt of Courts Act should not be initiated against them.
Mandatory Physical Appearance: The court listed the high-stakes matter for its next comprehensive hearing on November 4, 2026, ordering every charged officer to remain physically present in the courtroom.
The Suresh Chandra Verma Case: Four Years of Delay Despite Supreme Court Ratification
The dispute originates from a bundle of 37 contempt petitions filed by state employees seeking the faithful execution of a long-standing judgment:
The Original 2022 Mandate: On July 19, 2022, the High Court delivered a decisive ruling in the Suresh Chandra Verma case, directing the Uttar Pradesh administration to re-calculate petitioners' salaries, disburse all pending arrears, and release revised pensions accordingly.
Interest Penalty Clause: The court's original decree explicitly stipulated that if the state administration failed to clear the financial dues within four months, the outstanding amount would attract a simple interest rate of seven percent per annum.
Dismissal of State Appeals: The state government's challenge was subsequently dismissed in a special appeal by a division bench, and the order received final confirmation from the Supreme Court of India on January 13, 2026. Despite the top court's confirmation and the subsequent dismissal of state review petitions, administrative authorities failed to disburse the funds, prompting the court to observe that the administration appeared willfully unwilling to obey judicial decrees.
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