NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday flagged procedural lapse in the manner in which the contempt petitions concerning IPS deputation to CAPFs were abruptly deleted from regular bench and listed before a special bench.
When the matter was taken up for hearing on Wednesday by the special bench comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, after contempt petitions were abruptly deleted from cause list of the bench comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice A S Chandurkar on Tuesday.
The petitions concern alleged non-compliance with Supreme Court's May 25 judgment for progressive reduction and eventual phasing out of IPS deputation posts in CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) cadres.
The May 25 judgment had directed the Centre to progressively reduce IPS posts in CAPFs and give cadre officers promotional avenues.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioners, alleged non-compliance of the top court's verdict and objected to the manner in which the matter had been listed before special bench, saying no notice had been given to them about request for listing matter before another bench.
Divan further said the contempt petitions were listed before the regular bench on Tuesday but unfortunately these were abruptly deleted from the cause list without any prior notice. "Listing before the special bench without intimation is improper," he argued.
Hearing these submissions, the Special bench comprising Justice Misra and Justice Bhuyan criticised the manner of abrupt deletion and listing. The judges said, they were also surprised how the petitions were deleted from the regular bench and listed before the special bench.
Seeking clarification from the Registry on deletion and re-listing, the court said, cause list is prepared under CJI's orders and transparency must be maintained.
The court fixed the matter for further hearing to next week.
The case concerns cadre structure of CAPFs and implementation of the Supreme Court's May 25 verdict directing phasing out of IPS deputation and promotion of cadre officers to top posts in CAPFs.