The Village Guard Association of Nagaland v. Shri. J.Alam, Ias and 9 Ors

ORDER Date : 05-11-2024

Heard Mr. Arenlong, learned counsel for the peti-tioner. Also heard Mr. T.B. Jamir, learned counsel for the respon-dent No.2, Mr. L.T. Sangtam, learned Addl. A.G for the respon-dent Nos. 7 and 8, Mr. Imti Imsong, learned Addl. A.G. for re-spondent Nos. 4 and 9, Mr. N. Angami, learned Sr. Govt. Advo-cate for respondent No.1 and Mr. C. Phom, learned counsel for respondent No.10.

¶2By filing this application under section 11 and 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, read with Contempt of Courts Page No.# 4/16 (Gauhati High Court) Rules, 1977 and Article 215 of the Consti-tution of India, the petitioner is seeking initiation of civil con-tempt proceeding against the respondents for alleged violation of the judgment and order dated 29.1.2021 passed in W.A 1(K)/2018.

¶3The facts of the case is that the petitioner had filed W.P.(C) 33(K)/2017 seeking enhancement/revision of their pay on the ground of equal pay for equal works which was allowed by the learned Single Judge. Being aggrieved, the State Govern-ment has filed W.A.1/2018 against the aforesaid judgment and order of the learned Single Judge.

¶4The learned Division Bench by judgment and order dated 29.1.2021 modified and set aside the judgment and order of the learned Single Judge passed in the aforementioned writ proceeding with a direction to constitute an expert committee within a period of 3(three) weeks and the committee should complete the process of examining the matter of enhancement of the honorarium and other allowances of the VGs as expedi-tiously as possible but not later than 4(four) months from the date it is constituted.

¶5Despite the petitioner having approached the respon-dent authorities by filing various representations, the said Judg-ment and Order of this Court has not been implemented within the time frame fixed by this Court, the present contempt pro-ceeding has been filed. Page No.# 5/16

¶6Mr. Arenlong, learned counsel for the petitioner sub-mits that though a revised expert committee has been consti-tuted and report has been submitted, however, the same is bias and is not in strict compliance of the order passed by this Court. He further submits that this Court earlier on 5.12.2022 upon coming to the opinion that the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the first expert committee not in terms of the direc-tions given by the Court against which the contempt petition has been filed, directed the respondent No.1 to re-constitute the committee within a period of one month from that date. He fur-ther submits that the current report of the re-constituted expert committee is also not as the direction given by this Court.

¶7Per contra, Mr. T.B. Jamir, learned counsel for the re-spondent/contemner No.2 submits that the re-constituted expert committee has examined the issues and recommended in terms of the direction passed by this Court by order dated 29.1.2021. He accordingly submits that the order of the Court being com-plied, nothing survives for adjudication in the present contempt proceeding.

¶8I have given my prudent consideration to the argu-ments made by the contesting parties and perused the materials available on record.

¶9Apt to refer at the outset to the direction given by the Division Bench of this Court by order dated 29.1.2021 Page No.# 6/16 against which the present contempt petition has been filed. Paragraph 29 of the aforesaid judgment is reproduced hereunder for ready reference:- "[29] In that view of the matter, we direct the State Government to constitute an expert committee to examine and determine the payment/entitlement of financial benefits of Village Guards in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Northeast Divi-sion, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The expert committee should in-clude representatives from the Home Department, Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms, Finance Department, at least 2 (two) members from the petitioner association, the rep-resentatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Northeast Division amongst others. The committee should be chaired by an Officer/Official who is not below the rank of Addl. Chief Secre-tary to the Govt. of Nagaland. The committee should be consti-tuted as directed herein above within a period of 3 (three) weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order and the com-mittee should complete the process of examining the matter of enhancement of the honorarium and other allowances of the VGs expeditiously as possible and not later than within a period of 4 (four) months from the date it is constituted. While consid-ering the matter of enhancement of honorarium and other al-lowances as directed herein above, the committee shall take into consideration the observation and direction given by the Apex Court at paragraph 39 in the case of Grah Rakshak Home Guard Welfare Association (supra). The recommendation made by the Committee shall then be forwarded to the State Government in the Home Department and also to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Northeast Division for approval and further necessary action."

¶10Reading of the aforesaid directions contained in the order of the Division Bench of this Court appears that the Divi-sion Bench directed the following:- Page No.# 7/16 i. To constitute an expert committee to exam-ine and determine, the payment/entitlement of financial benefits of Village Guards in consulta-tion with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Northeast Divi-sion, Govt. of India, New Delhi. ii. The expert committee should include repre-sentatives from the Home Department, Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms, Finance Depart-ment, at least 2 (two) members from the petitioner asso-ciation, the representatives of the Ministry of Home Af-fairs, Northeast Division amongst others. The committee should be chaired by an Officer/Official who is not below the rank of Addl. Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Naga-land. iii. The committee should be constituted as directed herein above within a period of 3 (three) weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order iv. The committee should complete the process of examining the matter of enhancement of the honorar-ium and other allowances of the VGs an expeditiously as possible and not later than within a period of 4 (four) months from the date it is constituted. While considering the matter of enhancement of honorarium and other al-lowances as directed herein above, the committee shall take into consideration the observation and direction Page No.# 8/16 given by the Apex Court at paragraph 39 in the case of Grah Rakshak Home Guard Welfare Association (supra). v. The recommendation made by the committee shall then be forwarded to the State Govern-ment in the Home Department and also to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Northeast Division for approval and fur-ther necessary action.

¶11It appears that in pursuant of the said direction given by the Division Bench, the Government of Nagaland by Notifica-tion dated 14.4.2021 constituted a committee consisting of the following persons:-

¶1Shri Sentiyanger Imchen, IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary Govt. of Nagaland : Chairman

¶2A representative of the MHA (NE Div) GOI, New Delhi : Mem-ber

¶3Shri Abhijit Sinha, IAS, Principal Secy, Home:Member

¶4Shri V. Kezo, Spl Secy, Fin. Deptt :Member

¶5Shri R. Ramakrishnan, IAS, Pr. Secy, P&AR Deptt : Member

¶6Shri Rovilatuo Mor, IAS, Commissioner, Nagaland : Member

¶7Shri Ngamjok Konyak, Secy, Law & Justice Depart-ment : Member Page No.# 9/16

¶8President & General Secy, Nagaland Village Guards Association : Member. In the Notification, the terms of reference is as here under: Terms of reference

¶1The Expert Committee shall examine and determine the pay-ment/entitlement of benefits of the Village Guards.

¶2The Committee shall take into consideration the observation and direction given by the Hon'ble Supreme Court at para-graph 39 in the case of Grah Rakshak Home Guards Welfare Association vs State of Himachal Pradesh and others reported in (2015) SCC 247 while considering the matter of enhance-ment of honorarium and other allowances of Village Guards.

¶3The Committee shall submit its report within a period of 3(Three) months from the date of issue of this notification.

¶12It further appears that this Court earlier when the matter had come up on 5.12.2022 upon hearing the counsels and examining the contents of the minutes of the meeting of the first committee was of the opinion that the same is not in accor-dance with the direction given by the Division Bench. However, this Court upon observing that the State respondents has taken some steps and they have not deliberately ignored or neglected compliance of the directions given, directed the respondent No.1 to re-constitute the expert committee in the light of the di-rections passed earlier by this Court. Paragraph 8 and 9 of the Page No.# 10/16 aforesaid order dated 5.12.2022 passed by this Court in the present contempt petition is also reproduced hereunder for ready reference:- "8. From what has been stated above and the con-tents of the minutes of the Meetings and the actions taken so far by the State respondents and the respondent No. 6, it ap-pears that the directions given in the writ petition and the writ appeal have not been gone into in depth to understand the same and their implications. Further, from the steps taken so far and as may be seen from the meeting minutes it appears that there is lack of concern and whole-heartedness in dealing with the issue. The Appellate Court directed constitution of the Com-mittee so that the issue/issues involved and the implications thereof are deliberated thoroughly so that the grievance of the Village Guards, whose service have been acknowledged and ap-plauded be many including the President of India, may be set-tled in equitable and just manner. These are people as per the records, who have been awarded 1 (one) Class-I Ashok Chakra, 8 (eight) Class-II Ashok Chakras, and 5 (five) Class-III Ashok Chakras besides other awards. From the letter of the Ministry of Home it appears that the judgments passed in the two cases have not been perused at all and, therefore, have refused to grant any more benefit to them just on the ground of paucity of fund. Paucity of fund was never an issue before the Writ Court and before the Division Bench. In any case, paucity of fund cannot be a reason for denying entitle-ment, especially to persons like Village Guards whose service have not been only acknowledged but applauded with so many awards and citations. People who are serving the country in dif-ficult places and difficult times should be given their due be-cause their services keep the people of the country safe and sound. It must also be remembered that people of this kind of group hardly bring their grievances to higher authorities for re-dressal. Most of the time they keep quiet, but only under com-pelling circumstances they come forward to plead their griev-ances. Therefore, people in authority who are concerned with the affairs of such persons should be more sensitive or sensitive Page No.# 11/16 enough to attend to their grievances at the earliest without grieving them any further or without pushing them to the wall.

¶9From the records as stated, it appears that the State respon-dents have taken some steps, therefore, this Court is of the view that they have not at least deliberately ignored or ne-glected compliance of the directions given. Therefore the re-spondent No.1 is once again directed to reconstitute the Com-mittee in the light of the submissions made by Mr. T.B. Jamir, and the other counsels representing the other parties within a period of one month from today. After being constituted, the Committee shall have their deliberation or deliberations and de-termine the benefits to be given to the petitioners in terms of the directions given in the writ petition and the writ appeal. The whole exercise should be completed within a period of four months from the date of the constitution of the Committee. The Chief Secretary/respondent No. 1, shall thereafter file a compli-ance affidavit."

¶13What transpires from the above is that this court had already observed that the respondents are not deliberately or in-tentionally sitting over the matter. However, the minutes of the first expert committee being not in accordance with the direction passed earlier, directed re-constitution of the second expert com-mittee.

¶14It appears that pursuant to the aforesaid direction, the second committee was re-constituted and the said commit-tee has submitted its report on 4.7.2023. The members of the re-constituted committee are as hereunder:- Page No.# 12/16

¶1Shri. Sentiyanger Imchen, ACS : Chairman

¶2A representative of the MHA(NE-Div) GoI, New Delhi : : Member

¶3Shri. Abhijit Sinha, Principal Secy, Home :Me mber

¶4Smti. Chubasangla Anar, IAS, Commissioner & Secy, P&AR Deptt :Member

¶5Shri. T. Mhabemo Yanthan, IAS, Commissioner & Commandant General, VGO, Nagaland : Member

¶6Shri. V. Kezo, Commissioner & Secy, Finance deptt : : Member

¶7Shri, Ngamjok Konyak, Secretary, Justice & Law Deptt : Member

¶8President & General Secretary, Nagaland Village Guards Association : Member Terms of reference of the second expert committee are as under:- Page No.# 13/16 TERM OF REFERENCE:

¶1The Committee shall examine the matters pertaining to the nature of duties and all the retirement matters of the village guards vis-à-vis Home Guards Nagaland.

¶2The committee shall also examine and compare the pay and allowance of the VGs vis-à-vis Home Guards Nagaland in light of the directive given by the Hon'ble Supreme Court at paragraph 39 in the case of Grah Rakshak Home Guards Welfare Association vs State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors reported in (2015) 6SCC247.

¶3The Committee shall deliberate and determine the benefits to be given to the petitioners in terms of the direction given in the Writ petition & writ Appeal filed by the concerned.

¶4The committee shall submit its report within a period of 3 (three) months from the date of issue of this Notification.

¶15Accordingly, the second committee examined the matter upon thorough discussion and recommended as hereun-der:- Recommendation by the re-constituted Expert Committee: i. Grant of rewards and awards for heroic deeds and achievements to those VGs on duties as acknowledgement, which should be specified to Law & Order, duties, & assignments, including ex-gratia. ii. As the Chief Minister's Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS) has been introduced and is being implemented in the State from 2022 to which the VGs are also entitled to and are availing the scheme. Page No.# 14/16 iii. As for the pay and allowances of the VDF in other State, a detailed discussion was held after obtaining the guidelines on the roles, duties and functions, perks and allowances being paid to the VDF in Manipur. After much deliberation, the house came to a conclusion that the roles, duties and functions of the VDF in Manipur and the VGs in Nagaland are quite different and hence payment of honorarium to the State's VGs equivalent to that of the VDF in Manipur is not possible. iv. The members of the Expert Committee were of the opinion that the basic demand of the VG association relates mainly to enhancement of the Honorarium of the village Guards which is being paid by the Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI. The views and opinion of the members including that of the representatives of the VG association and especially that of the Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India which pays the honorarium of the VGs wherein ,they stated their regret, which has been reproduced at length in the foregoing para, the committee reiterates the views of the earlier committee that increase in the honorarium, of the VGs at this juncture is not recommended."

¶16Apparent from the above that the State Government has constituted an expert committee as directed by this Court earlier and the said committee has completed the process of ex-amining the matter of enhancement of the honorarium and other allowances of the VGs. Page No.# 15/16

¶17It further appears that the re-constituted committee has examined and compared the pay an allowance of the VGs vis-à-vis Home Guards, Nagaland in terms of the decision of the Apex Court in the case of Grah Rakshak Home Guard Welfare Association (supra).

¶18Accordingly the re-constituted committee has submit-ted its report.

¶19Thus, it appears that the order of this Court is com-plied.

¶20That being so, nothing survives for adjudication in the present contempt petition. The submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner as regard the bias and the findings of the committee not being in accordance with the direction of this Court, the same are matters beyond the jurisdiction and power of the contempt court. It is a settled law that the role of the pe-titioner after filing the contempt petition comes to an end and thereafter, it is between the Court and the contemnor. The con-tempt Court is not an executing Court. The role of the contempt Court is limited to punish the contemnor for contempt of Court. Therefore, the contempt Court if is satisfied that the order of this Court is complied, nothing more is required to be gone into.

¶21As stated above, this Court is satisfied that the judg-ment and order of this Court by order dated 29.1.2021 stands complied and hence nothing survives for adjudication. As such, the contempt petition stands closed.

¶22It is needless to be clarified that in the event the pe-titioner is aggrieved by the recommendation made by the sec-Page No.# 16/16 ond expert committee, he is at liberty to approach the appropri-ate forum in accordance with law.

¶23The contempt petition accordingly stands disposed of.

Sd/- JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/16 GAHC020000112022 2222222 222222222222222 2222222222222222THEkGAUHATIkHIGHkCOURT (HIGHkCOURTkOFkASSAM,kNAGALAND,kMIZORAMkANDkARUNACHAL PRADESH) KOHIMAkBENCH CasekNo.k:kCOP(C)/2/2022 THE2VILLAGE2GUARD2ASSOCIATION2OF2NAGALAND REPRESENTED2BY2ITS2VICE2PRESIDENT,2SHRI.2TONGKAM,2AND2ITS2 EXECUTIVE2CHAIRMAN,SHRI.2M.2LASETSU VERSUS SHRI.2J.ALAM,2IAS2AND292ORS CHIEF2SECRETARY2TO2THE2GOVERNMENT2OF2NAGALAND 2:SHRI.2 SENTIYANGER2IMCHEN IAS 2ADDITIONAL2CHIEF2SECRETARY2AND2FINANCE2COMMISSIONER2TO2THE2 GOVERNMENT2OF2NAGALAND 2AND2CHAIRMAN2EXPERT2COMMITTEE2TO2EXAMINE2AND2DETERMINE2THE2 PAYMENT/ENTITLEMENT2OF2THE2VILLAGE2GUARDS2IN2NAGALAND 2KOHIMA 3:SHRI.2ROUVILATUO2MOR IAS 2COMMISSIONER2OF2NAGALAND 2AND2COMMANDANT2GENERAL 2VILLAGE2GUARDS 2NAGALAND 2KOHIMA 4:SHRI.2ABHIJIT2SINHA IAS 2HOME2COMMISSIONER 2NAGALAND 2KOHIMA 5:SHRI.2R.2RAMAKRISHNAN IAS PageoNo.#o2/16 2PRINCIPAL2SECRETARY2TO2THE2GOVERNMENT2OF2NAGALAND 2DEPARTMENT2OF2P2AND2AR 2NAGALAND 2KOHIMA 6:SHRI.2SATYENDRA2GARG IAS 2JOINT2SECRETARY(NORTH2EAST2DIVISION) 2TO2THE2GOVERNMENT2OF2INDIA 2MINISTRY2OF2HOME2AFFAIRS 2NORTH2BLOCK 2NEW2DELHI2-2110001 7:SHRI2T.2MHABEMO2YANTHAN IAS 2COMMISSIONER2OF2NAGALAND2AND2COMMANDANT2GENERAL VILLAGE2GUARDS 2NAGALAND KOHIMA 2MEMBER 2EXPERT2COMMITTEE 8:SHRI2V.2KEZO 2COMMISSIONER2AND2SECRETARY FINANCE2DEPARTMENT NAGALAND/COMMISSIONER2AND2SECRETARY 2DEPARTMENT2OF2HEALTH2AND2FAMILY2WELFARE 2MEMBER EXPEERT2COMMITTEE 2NAGALAND CIVIL2SECRETARIAT 2KOHIMA 2NAGALAND 9:SHRI2IMTIAKUM 2ADDITIONAL2SECRETARY 2JUSTICE2AND2LAW2DEPARTMENT 2MEMBER Page No.# 3/16 EXPERT COMMITTEE NAGALAND CIVIL SECRETARIAT KOHIMA NAGALAND 10:SHRI ARUN K. DHAYANI DIRECTOR (NORTH EAST- DIVISION) MEMBER EXPERT COMMITTEE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS NORTH BLOCK NEW DELHI 11000 Advocate for the Petitioner : TAKA MASA, SR. ADV, ALEM WAPANG AO,ARENLONG,TIAKUMLA,SENTILONG Advocate for the Respondent : , BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAUSHIK GOSWAMI