The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed the contempt case against Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla for allegedly violating its order to maintain status quo on reservation in promotion.
The contempt petition was concerned with ad hoc promotions in the Central Secretariat service given during Mr. Bhalla's tenure at the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
Mr. Bhalla had countered that the promotions had been necessary due to a large number of vacancies, which may have affected governance and the work in various departments.
He had said the promotions were given purely on the basis of seniority, without considering the officials’ Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe status. It was done after taking the opinion of the Attorney General.
On Tuesday, Attorney General (A-G) K.K. Venugopal urged a Bench led by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit to close the case. The court agreed to do so without expressing anything on the merits of the issue.
“Having heard the counsel for contempt petitioners and A-G who has advanced submissions on behalf of contempt petitioners, we see not reason to entertain the contempt petition. The petition is disposed of,” the Bench noted in the order.
The contempt notice was issued against the Home Secretary in April 2021.
