HC asks chief secy to explain filing of false affidavit

ALLAHABAD: The seven-judge bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday took a serious view of filing of a false affidavit by the chief secretary and asked him to file an explanation in the court within a week,

The bench, presided over by chief justice DY Chandrachud, had assembled to hear the issue of vacant post of principal secretary (law).

The chief secretary had filed an affidavit wherein it was stated that several letters and reminders were sent to the high court to give panel of names of judicial officers to make appointment to the post of principal secretary (law), but no response was received from the high court.

However, the fact was that the high court had, through its registrar, sent a letter in response to the state government which was received and an endorsement was also made by the chief secretary.

The judges said that it was clear from the record that the response was made to the state government then how this false affidavit was filed by the chief secretary that no response was given by the high court. The court fixed May 6 as the next date of hearing.

The bench also asked the state government to provide information as to what action had been taken for the safety and security of the high court and district courts of the state particularly when a few hand grenades were found on district court premises in Varanasi. The court has also asked the state government to inform it about the improvement of infrastructure and video conferencing facilities in courts and jails of UP.

The bench also issued notices to the presidents and secretaries of Kanpur Bar Association and lawyers association of district court, Kanpur Nagar, and directed the SSP (Kanpur Nagar) to submit a report in the court, on May 6, 2016, regarding the incident that took place on April 4 on the district court premises.

The lawyers went on the rampage at the court and broke windows and furniture of the court rooms of judicial officers, including that of district judge, Kanpur. An FIR was lodged against the accused lawyers.

The court also instructed the district judge to file a report providing details of criminal cases pending against the lawyers.