Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered immediate suspension of the Registrar of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) for not complying with an order the court to regularise the services of a peon from retrospective date.

A division bench, comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, said in its order that “the Court takes a serious view of the manner in which the judgment has been violated by the respondent and he is put under suspension forthwith.”

The “Court has taken judicial notice of the fact that, of late, tendency has developed in the functionaries of the State/Statutory Boards/Universities to pay scant regard to the judgments/orders passed by the Court. Judgments/orders are not implemented for years together. It is the bounden duty of the functionaries of the State/Statutory Boards/Universities to implement the judgments/orders passed by the Courts with promptitude”.

Court observed that “the respondent has shown scant respect to the judgment passed by this Court. The respondent is an important functionary of the respondent-University under the Himachal Pradesh University Act and the statute framed thereunder. It was his bounden duty to obey the judgment/order passed by this Court. The Court takes serious view the manner in which judgment has been violated by the respondent. He is put under suspension forthwith. He will not discharge the duties from 10.30 A.M. today itself.”

The Court has sought reply within two weeks, and further directed that if the judgment in question is implemented in that eventuality, it shall be open to the respondent to seek modification/alteration of the order.

Earlier, the High Court on May 12, 2015 had directed the University to regularise the services of the class IV employee retrospectively from June 8, 1999 instead of April 12, 2006 but the University authority / respondent neither filed the reply nor implemented the Court order.