Govt SOP for Judges: Do not name officials for court panels

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said the SOP would be circulated to high courts to invite the views of stakeholders.

The SOP also states that the “court should hesitate to punish a contemnor if the act or omission complained of was not willful,” adding that a “Judge should not, ideally, sit on contempt proceedings relating to their own orders”.

“Comments on the dress/ physical appearance/ educational and social background of the government official appearing before the court should be refrained. Government officials are not officers of the court and there should be no objection to their appearing in a decent work dress unless such appearance is unprofessional or unbecoming of her/ his position,” it says.

“In case of matters before court that involve setting up of a committ

ee for further examination of the matter under consideration, the court may prescribe only the broad composition/ domains of members/ chairperson of such committee instead of naming individual members and leave the identification/ selection/ appointment of individual members/ chairperson with the executive/ administration,” says the SOP.

It also asks courts to allow appearance of government officials through video conferencing as a rule.

Sources told The Indian Express that the need for such an SOP was felt after the Allahabad High Court in April ordered two officials to be taken into custody for failing to comply with its order to provide certain post-retirement benefits for judges.

Although the Supreme Court stayed the order, Uttar Pradesh Finance Secretary S M A Rizvi and Special Secretary (Finance) Sarayu Prasad Mishra had already been taken into custody.

Last week, the Calcutta High Court suspended the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chief Secretary and slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the Lieutenant Governor in a contempt case. The SC stayed the order.