Arbitrary court
orders summoning government officials in judicial proceedings run contrary to
the scheme envisaged by the Constitution, the Supreme Court held on Wednesday
and framed standard operating procedures on the issue.
A bench
comprising Chief justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj
Misra said the standard operating procedures (SOP) for courts emphasised that
they needed to steer away from arbitrary summoning of officials.
Pronouncing the
judgement, the CJI said the courts cannot summon a official only because his
view is different from that of the courts.
It also said that
courts must refrain from making remarks or observations to humiliate officers
during court proceedings.
The top court
also set aside the orders of the Allahabad High Court by which two secretaries
of the Uttar Pradesh finance department were taken into custody.
Earlier, the bench
had said that it will lay down the broad guidelines to be followed by courts
across the country while summoning government officials.