The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held Guru Nanak Dev University’s Vice-Chancellor Karamjeet Singh and Registrar Karamjit Singh Chahal guilty of willfully disobeying judicial directions in a long-running service dispute. Justice Pankaj Jain also sentenced them to a month’s simple imprisonment in the matter. The sentence was, however, placed under suspension to enable them to avail appellate remedies.
“Keeping in view their incorrigible attitude, they are held guilty of willfully disobeying the orders passed by this Court and consequently are held guilty of committing contempt of Court,” the Court ruled. Justice Jain, among other things, made it clear that the respondents kept persisting with a 10-year service condition for minimum pay scale, even though the court had earlier ruled that there was no such condition.
At the onset, Justice Jain observed that the core issue before the court was whether the respondents had “willfully disobeyed the orders passed by the Writ Court”. Going into the background of the matter, the Bench observed that the petitioners, employees of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), had initially approached the High Court seeking “equal pay for equal work”. The writ petitions were allowed by the High Court after relying upon the Supreme Court judgment in the case of “State of Punjab versus Jagjit Singh”.
Appearing for the petitioners, senior counsel Puneet Jindal along with other advocates contended that the university authorities failed to implement the judgment despite clear judicial directions and instead imposed a condition that an employee would be entitled to the minimum pay scale only after completing 10 years of service.
Taking note of the stand, the High Court on March 25, 2025, observed that the respondents were misconstruing the court order as there was no condition of 10 years’ service completion for claiming minimum pay scale,
“It is apparent that an effort is being made to misinterpret the order passed by the Writ Court as well as the settled law as recorded in the decision rendered by the Apex Court in `State of Punjab versus Jagjit Singh’ where no such condition of completion of 10 years of service for making an individual eligible for minimum of pay scale has been prescribed,” the court had observed.
The High Court had further recorded that the university authorities were “depriving the petitioners of their entitlement under the order passed by the Writ Court by circumventing its operation and intent.” Finding a prima facie case of deliberate non-compliance, the court had ordered contempt charges to be framed against the GNDU Registrar under Sections 10 and 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
However, even thereafter, the respondents filed an affidavit reiterating their earlier position, continuing to insist upon the 10-year eligibility requirement and issuing speaking orders to the same effect. A connected contempt appeal petition filed during the proceedings was subsequently withdrawn.
When the matter came up for hearing before Justice Jain’s Bench, GNDU Vice-Chancellor Karamjeet Singh and Registrar Karamjit Singh Chahal appeared in person before the court. Taking exception to what he described as their “incorrigible attitude”, the Bench concluded that the conduct amounted to deliberate defiance of judicial orders.
The court accordingly sentenced both officials to undergo simple imprisonment for one month, while suspending the operation of the sentence to facilitate filing of an appeal.
