Photo used for indicative purpose only. Source internet
Shimla, Aug 5
In a sharp rebuke to the Himachal Pradesh Government, the High Court has observed that the State is “behaving like a private litigant and buying time” after it failed to file a complete affidavit despite a specific direction from the Supreme Court. The court warned that it would impose costs of Rs 50,000 on the State if the affidavit is not filed before the next hearing.
The observation came during the hearing of a batch of petitions led by Bal Krishan versus State of Himachal Pradesh, which concern outsourcing and recruitment in various government departments. The Division Bench of Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin C. Negi listed the matter for further hearing on August 13.
The State submitted an affidavit along with consolidated data on outsourcing over the past three years. However, the Bench found the affidavit incomplete, noting that the data did not include the total number of sanctioned posts and vacancies in several departments, with many entries showing both figures as “0”. The court held that the information furnished was inadequate for proper adjudication.
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During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners highlighted serious inconsistencies in the government’s figures. Referring to documents already on record, the petitioners pointed out that while the Health and Family Welfare Department alone has a sanctioned strength of 24,188 posts, the fresh affidavit showed the combined sanctioned strength of 46 departments as only 30,805, raising questions over the accuracy of the data submitted.
The High Court also referred to the Supreme Court’s order of July 27, 2026, passed in the State’s Special Leave Petitions challenging the High Court’s earlier orders. The apex court had directed the State to file a complete affidavit before the High Court within five working days and requested the High Court to decide the matter expeditiously. It had also permitted the State to proceed with the recruitment process initiated through the November 6, 2025 notification, subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the government’s failure to comply with the Supreme Court’s direction, the Bench remarked that despite the clear timeline granted by the apex court, the State had still not placed a complete affidavit on record.
It directed the government to cure the deficiencies before the next hearing, warning that failure to do so would invite costs of Rs 50,000, to be deposited in the IGMC Poor Patients Fund, Shimla.
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