If Chief Secretary Doesn't Obey Our Orders, Who Will? Madras High Court Criticizes Delay By Former Secy, Closes Contempt

The Madras High Court on Monday (July 21) criticised the former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Siva Das Meena over delay in implementing its order to set up a committee to look into the issues with respect to compassionate appointments.Justice Battu Devanand orally remarked that if the Chief Secretary himself doesn't comply with court order and implement it on time, how could the court expect other officers, who were working under him, to comply with the orders. Though the counsel for the IAS officer told the court that he had "high regard" for the court, the judge orally remarked that it did not seem so, since the orders were not complied with on time.“Because they are higher officials, they do not have any regard for the order. If the chief secretary itself is not following the court order, how can we expect officers serving under him to follow the order in a timely manner”, the court remarked orally.The court also said that it was embarrassing for it to initiate the suo motu proceedings against the high-ranking officials. “Do you think we're happy doing this. The court is not getting anything by initiating this suo motu case. It's actually embarrassing for us to initiate case against high-ranking officers,” the court added.The court had previously directed the current Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, N. Muruganandam, and the former Chief Secretary, Siva Das Meena, to appear before it and explain why the order was not complied with in due time. Following the court order, the officers appeared before the judge and expressed their sincere apologies. The suo motu contempt case was initiated after the court noted that the State had not complied with an order passed by the court in 2023. In the 2023 order, the court had directed the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee to make necessary recommendations to amend the Tamil Nadu Civil Service (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 2023 and to take steps to obtain report from the committee within 2 months. In today's hearing, the court was informed that the committee had been constituted and steps had been taken to maintain a seniority list of persons eligible for compassionate appointment so that appointments can be made without much delay. The court was also informed that the Rules would be amended to this effect. The court was satisfied with the steps taken by the Chief Secretary to implement its order. At the same time, the court also remarked that if the former Chief Secretary (IAS officer Meena) had taken steps to implement the orders at the time, the officers would not have had to be summoned by the court. The judge also recalled that in one of his previous orders two years ago, he had appreciated Meena for having issued a circular to all his subordinate officers asking them to implement court orders. However, the same officer had failed to do so in the present case, prompting the court to take this action, the judge remarked. However, on being satisfied with the steps taken, the court opined that further adjudication was not required and thus closed the plea. The court also asked the respondents to submit a copy of the amended rules to the Registrar Judicial within 2 weeks for perusal and asked the matter to be posted before the concerned court after 3 weeks. Case Title: High Court of Madras v. Siva Das Meena IAS and Another Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 246 Case No: Cont P 1825 of 2025

If Chief Secretary Doesn't Obey Our Orders, Who Will? Madras High Court Criticizes Delay By Former Secy, Closes Contempt

Upasana Sajeev

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