A judge dismissed a contempt petition regarding a university lecturer's absorption order and salary arrears, directing the Registrar/Vice Chancellor to conduct enquiries into actual working days and pension eligibility, rather than ruling on contumacy.
Directed the Registrar/Vice Chancellor to hold an enquiry for salary arrears and decide the pension claim within the specified timelines.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
2025 INSC 65
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
INHERENT JURISDICTION
CONTEMPT PETITION (C) NO. 741 OF 2020
IN
CONTEMPT PETITION (C) NO. 1030 OF 2018
IN
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 2703 OF 2017
MEERA SINGH
PETITIONER
VERSUS
DEEPAK KUMAR AND ORS. RESPONDENTS
O R D E R
by the alleged non-compliance of the order dated 27.02.2019 passed in Contempt Petition (C) No. 1030 of 2018, filed in Civil
Appeal No. 2703 of 2017 and batch titled as “Krishna Nand
Yadav & others Vs. Magadh University & others” .
Signature Not VerifiedDigitally signed by 2. Briefly put, the petitioner was appointed on the post of NIDHI AHUJA Date: 2025.01.10 18:11:12 IST Reason:
lecturer in Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur, Bihar
w.e.f. 07.09.1981. The claim of the petitioner regarding absorption
was allowed by Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha (Retd.) One Man Commission (hereinafter referred to as ‘J. Sinha Commission’ ) vide order dated 03.08.2015. The said order was confirmed by this Court vide order dated 31.08.2017 in Krishna Nand Yadav (supra), subject to furnishing declaration by the petitioner regarding continuously working and attending the college regularly since the date of appointment till date, or in case of retirement till the date of retirement and that she did not work anywhere else. Vide a notification dated 17.09.2018 of the Magadh University, she was absorbed.
hence, she had filed the Contempt Petition (C) No. 1030 of 2018 for alleged non-compliance. On 27.02.2019, the Court observed that absorption has been ordered and the payment to the admitted claim has also been made, if there are any remaining arrears it be paid to petitioner after verification within four weeks. In this view, accepting unconditional apology, the Contempt Petition was disposed of. The petitioner raising a grievance that the direction
issued in main case and also in contempt petition has not been complied, hence, filed the present petition.
of salary verifying the absence period and actual working days after an enquiry is an issue and the pension stopped is also an issue which require adjudication.
the orders passed in subsequent proceedings in Baidya Nath Choudhary (supra) , we find that the issue regarding actual working of the petitioner, payment of salary and arrears thereof require adjudication after fact-finding enquiry, which we are not inclined to hold in this Contempt Petition. So far as stoppage of pension is concerned, we make it clear that in the orders dated 11.07.2019, 07.08.2019 and 12.02.2021, the issue regarding payment of pension was not an issue. These orders relate to the fact that the absorbed employees have received the salaries for the period in which they have not actually worked. Therefore, the Court directed for no further payment even for pension. It is not reported that affording opportunity, enquiry has been completed, however, we do not deem it appropriate to keep these matters pending.
of State of Bihar & others vs Bihar Rajya M.S.E.S.K.K.M & others (2005) 9 SCC 129 and accordingly, we dispose of this petition with the following directions:
(iv) After adjudicating the issue of pension and arrears the same be paid adjusting the amount already paid as expeditiously as possible not later than two months from the date of such order.
(vi) We make it clear that if the employees have
submitted the joint claim of arrears of salary and
pension, in that event the issue of arrears of salary be governed by direction No. (ii) and
pension be governed by direction (iii).
(vii) In case, the parties feel dissatisfied by the orders
of the Registrar/Vice Chancellor of the University, they shall be at liberty to take recourse as permissible before the High Court.
disposed of. Pending interlocutory application(s), if any, stands disposed of.
……………………………………., J.
[ J.K. MAHESHWARI ]
……………………………………., J. [ RAJESH BINDAL ]
New Delhi; January 08, 2025.
3 issues framed by the court
Whether to dispose the contempt petition regarding non-compliance of absorption order and salary arrears.
Whether the issue of verifying actual working days and pension requires adjudication after an enquiry.
Whether the university is directed to hold specific enquiries regarding salary arrears and withheld pension.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
State of Bihar & others vs Bihar Rajya M.S.E.S.K.K.M & othersDistinguished¶31
(2005) 9 SCC 129 · Who else cites this
Baidya Nath Choudhary Vs. Dr. Sree Surendra Kumar SinghDistinguished¶5
Contempt Petition (C) No. 1188 of 2018 Baidya Nath Choudhary Vs. Dr. Sree Surendra Kumar Singh
Krishna Nand YadavReferred¶16
Krishna Nand Yadav & others Vs. Magadh University & others
2 provisions across 2 enactments
MEERA SINGH
DEEPAK KUMAR
J.K. MAHESHWARI
RAJESH BINDAL
As recorded by the court registry
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