Bihar HC Treats Reasoned Rejection Of Regular Appointment And Pay-Scale Claim As Compliance, Drops Contempt Case

In the underlying writ petition, the High Court directed the respondents to grant the petitioner benefits similar to those granted under State of Bihar v. Rhituraj Saraubh and Chandra Shekhar Azad v. State of Bihar within eight weeks; it also quashed Memo No. 2511 dated 11 August 2018.

The petitioner then filed this miscellaneous case alleging wilful and deliberate disobedience of that order.

The respondents filed a show-cause stating that, after considering the petitioner’s representation and the relevant decisions, the authorities rejected his claim for regular appointment in the regular pay scale by a reasoned order, Memo No. 7007 dated 3 October 2024.

The writ order directed the respondents to grant the petitioner “similar benefits” in light of the identified Division Bench and Single Bench decisions, within eight weeks, and quashed Memo No. 2511 dated 11 August 2018.

In this proceeding, the Court treated the authorities’ consideration of the petitioner’s claim and issuance of a reasoned, speaking order as compliance with that direction.

The Court relied on the show-cause and the accompanying order, which demonstrated that the authorities had considered the petitioner’s claim in light of the cited decisions and rejected it by a reasoned order.

Accepting this as compliance with the writ order, the Court did not continue the contempt proceeding.

Any interlocutory applications were also disposed of.