LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has framed contempt charges against four senior IAS officers of the Uttar Pradesh government for alleged non-compliance with a 2022 court order concerning revision of employees’ pay, payment of salary arrears and issuance of revised pension payment orders.
The officers facing the proceedings are Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Deepak Kumar; Principal Secretary, Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply and Minor Irrigation Department, Anurag Srivastava; Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, Anil Garg; and Principal Secretary, Rural Engineering Department, Sorabh Babu.
A single bench of Justice Saurabh Lavania passed the order on Monday, observing that the officers who were present before the court had failed to produce material showing that the earlier order had been complied with, even partially.
Court Finds Prima Facie Non-Compliance With 2022 Order
The contempt proceedings arise from the failure to implement an order passed by the High Court in July 2022 in a batch of cases concerning pay-scale benefits for government employees.
The court observed that no material had been placed before it to demonstrate compliance with the earlier writ court order. It consequently held that charges should be framed against the officers present before it, observing that, prima facie, they appeared unwilling to comply with the order.
The court has directed the four officers to file their responses to the charges within one week and remain personally present before it on October 13.
The latest proceedings follow several rounds of hearings in which the state had been given additional time to implement the directions. The court has now moved the matter into the formal contempt-charge stage.
Four Senior IAS Officers Facing Contempt Proceedings
The officers against whom the charges have been framed are:
- Deepak Kumar – Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department
- Anurag Srivastava – Principal Secretary, Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply and Minor Irrigation Department
- Anil Garg – Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department
- Sorabh Babu – Principal Secretary, Rural Engineering Department
The proceedings are connected to the implementation of the court’s directions relating to pay fixation and consequential financial benefits for employees.
The court has also indicated that another senior officer, Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, Ajay Chauhan, is facing a separate contempt petition arising from the same broader issue.
Ajay Chauhan to Face Charge-Framing Proceedings
Ajay Chauhan was not personally present before the court on Monday. He had filed an affidavit seeking exemption from personal appearance, which the court allowed.
However, the court directed Chauhan to remain present on October 13, when proceedings for framing charges against him are scheduled to be taken up.
Thus, while charges have already been framed against the four officers who were present, the proceedings against Chauhan are at a slightly different stage.
What Was the 2022 Allahabad HC Order About?
The High Court has been dealing with a larger group of 37 petitions filed by employees of different government departments seeking implementation of the court’s earlier directions.
The underlying dispute relates to pay fixation, arrears and pensionary benefits and is connected with the court’s July 2022 order.
The petitions broadly fall into two categories.
Category A: Pay Scale and Grade Pay Benefits
Employees in the first category sought the benefit of the pay scale of Rs 37,400-67,000 with a grade pay of Rs 8,700 in Pay Band-IV.
They sought the benefit with effect from the state government’s order dated July 5, 2011, while also seeking notional benefits from January 1, 2006.
They further sought the benefit of similar directions issued by the High Court through its orders dated January 28, 2014 and February 6, 2014.
Category B: Engineering Services Employees
The second category involved Assistant Engineers and Executive Engineers of Engineering Services.
These employees challenged an April 2015 state government order which stated that they were not covered by government orders dated November 5, 2014 and May 4, 2010.
They also challenged subsequent orders through which their representations seeking the same benefits had been rejected.
The employees approached the High Court seeking implementation of the benefits they claimed were already supported by the applicable government orders and earlier judicial directions.
Court Ordered Pay Re-Fixation, Arrears and Revised Pension Orders
In its 2022 order, the High Court directed the departments concerned to undertake the necessary exercise of pay fixation, pay the resulting salary arrears and issue revised Pension Pay Orders to eligible employees.
The court had provided a four-month timeline for completing the exercise.
Importantly, the order also provided a financial consequence for delay. If the benefits were not extended within the stipulated four-month period, the employees would be entitled to simple interest at 7 per cent.
The contempt proceedings were subsequently initiated after the employees alleged that the directions had not been implemented.
Employees Move Contempt Petitions
With the 2022 order allegedly remaining unimplemented, affected employees approached the High Court through contempt petitions seeking action against the authorities responsible for implementing the directions.
The petitions were heard on May 22, 2026.
During that hearing, the Advocate General appearing for Uttar Pradesh sought eight weeks to comply with the writ court’s order.
The High Court granted the additional time and listed the matter for July 22.
However, the issue did not end there, as the state government also approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s order.
Supreme Court Asked UP Officers to ‘Faithfully and Honestly Comply’
The Uttar Pradesh government filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court against the High Court order.
When the matter came up on July 22, the Supreme Court directed the state government officers concerned to “faithfully and honestly comply” with the High Court’s order.
The Supreme Court also permitted officers who were required to appear personally before the High Court to appear virtually.
Following the Supreme Court’s directions, the Allahabad High Court listed the contempt proceedings for October 5.
The Supreme Court subsequently heard the SLPs again on September 25 and listed the matters for October 16 to report further developments.
High Court Rejects Further Delay in Compliance
By the October 5 hearing, the High Court was examining whether there had been actual compliance with its 2022 directions.
The state was unable to place before the court material demonstrating that the order had been implemented, even partially, according to the proceedings reported from the hearing.
The court therefore proceeded to frame contempt charges against the four officers who were present.
The development marks a significant escalation in the long-running dispute, which began with employees seeking implementation of pay and pension-related benefits and has now resulted in contempt proceedings against senior administrative officers responsible for departments connected with the implementation process.
October 13 Hearing to Decide Next Course
The four officers have been given one week to respond to the charges framed against them.
They have also been directed to remain personally present before the Lucknow Bench on October 13.
The court is also scheduled to take up the proceedings for framing charges against Ajay Chauhan on the same date.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s SLP proceedings remain pending, with the matters listed for October 16 to report developments.
The contempt proceedings, therefore, are continuing alongside the proceedings before the Supreme Court. The latest High Court order concerns the alleged non-compliance with the earlier judicial directions and does not by itself constitute a final determination of any criminal liability beyond the contempt proceedings now underway.
