The Supreme Court has issued a contempt notice to Manipur chief secretary Vineet Joshi in a case filed by serving officers in the state, alleging willful disobedience of the court’s order.
The matter pertains to the Manipur Civil Services Combined Competitive (Main) Examination, 2016, conducted by the Manipur Public Service Commission (MPSC). The petitioners were selected, appointed, and served as civil servants in the state, following the 2016 examination.
A bench of justice CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol issued notice, dispensing with personal presence of the alleged contemnors, namely Vineet Joshi and Land Resource department secretary Namoijam Kheda Vrata Singh for the time being.
After allegations were raised regarding irregularities in the conduct of the exam, a division bench of the High Court of Manipur in October 19, 2019, based on the report of a second enquiry committee, quashed the main examination and nullified the appointments made under it.
Initially, the Supreme Court declined to interfere with the Division Bench’s order. However, after the discovery of new facts establishing serious concerns regarding the conflict of interest involving the two members of the second enquiry committee, the Apex Court, vide an order dated February 11, 2022, in an appeal filed by the state of Manipur, directed that a fresh main examination be conducted.
The bench also upheld the High Court’s directions to the CBI to conduct a time bound investigation into the conduct of the exam.
It was also directed in the same Supreme Court order that the re-successful candidates be granted continuity of service and consequential benefits upon their re-appointment to the concerned posts.
The petitioners in the present contempt proceedings had reappeared for the Supreme Court directed re-examination and were declared successful and re-appointed to the same posts as earlier.
However, despite a categorical direction by the Apex Court, the state of Manipur has not granted them continuity of service and consequential benefits, even more than a year since their re-appointment to the same posts.
It may be noted that issuing a contempt notice is not a routine matter in the Supreme Court, as it is only done when the court is satisfied that there has been a prima facie case of non-compliance or disobedience of its orders.
In the above circumstances, the petitioners had approached the Supreme Court, alleging wilful disobedience of its order dated 11.02.2022. In response, a bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol issued the notice in the Contempt Petition to chief secretary Vineet Joshi.
