Uttarakhand High Court issues show cause notice to CAT Chairman Justice Narasimha Reddy in a contempt petition

The Uttarakhand High Court has issued notice to Chairman of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Justice Narasimha Reddy in a contempt petition moved by an Indian Forest Services Officer..The notice was issued by a Bench of Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma on February 20 in the contempt proceedings initiated by one Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an officer of the Indian Forest Services..Chaturvedi, who was represented by Advocates Mehmood Pracha and GC Joshi, was the Chief Vigilance Officer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi between 2012 and 2016..AIIMS’s appraisal report for the year 2015-16 with respect to Chaturvedi contained certain adverse entries against him. This became the basis of a legal and administrative tussle between the Central government and Chaturvedi. This dispute was before a Division Bench of the CAT at Nainital..The Centre had sought a transfer of this matter from Nainital to Delhi, following which the CAT Chairman stayed the proceedings before the Nainital Bench. This order was challenged by Chaturvedi before the Uttarakhand High Court..The High Court had, in August 2018, ruled in Chaturvedi’s favour and had directed for the case to be heard by the Nainital Bench of CAT further adding that the case should be decided within six months. The Court had also imposed costs of Rs 25,000 on the Central government..Despite the High Court’s order, the CAT Chairman continued the proceedings and allegedly made adverse remarks against the High Court during the hearing in the case. Simultaneously, AIIMS along with the Central government moved the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s order against the CAT Chairman..The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s order and clarified that the administrative powers of the CAT Chairman do not entitle him to nullify the orders passed by a CAT Bench of higher strength. The Supreme Court concluded that the Uttarakhand High Court was right in quashing the stay order imposed by the CAT Chairman..When the Supreme Court’s order was presented by the applicant to the CAT Chairman, he initiated contempt proceedings against Chaturvedi’s counsel, Mehmood Pracha. Following this, a contempt petition was moved by Chaturvedi before the Uttarakhand High Court, which now issued a show cause notice to Justice Reddy..The Court’s order seeks a reply from the CAT Chairman to show cause as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. The order states,.“Issue notice to the respondent by normal mode of service as well as dasti to show cause within four weeks from today as to why the contempt proceedings may not be drawn against him and he may not be punished for willful disobedience of the judgment.”.The Court has now listed the matter after four weeks..Justice Reddy was a judge of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, and later served as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. He was appointed Chairman of the CAT in July last year..Read the Order: