The Kerala High Court recently warned Chief Secretary Biswanath Sinha, who previously served as Additional Chief Secretary (Home), that contempt of court proceedings would be initiated against him if 28 clerical posts pending in the district judiciary in the State were not created by September 9.
The court was considering a petition by the Kerala Civil Judicial Staff Organisation (KCJSO), consisting of administrative staff working in the civil wing of the district judiciary, seeking action against Mr. Sinha by initiating contempt proceedings for not complying with the direction to create and sanction the required clerical posts within the district judiciary.
The contempt petition arose from a previous court order in a plea filed by the KCJSO in 2016. The plea sought appointment of a new work study team to analyse the infrastructure deficiencies in the subordinate court in Keralam. The State government constituted an Organisation and Method Works Study Committee in 2019, as directed by the court. However, the KCJSO, in its plea, stated that no additional posts were created to meet the deficiencies highlighted by them.
Later, the High Court’s administrative department requested the State government to create 80 posts to meet the immediate requirements as an interim measure.
Subsequently, the State informed the court that 29 posts would be created within the second week of January 2026, and the remaining 51 posts would be sanctioned before the end of March 2026. The contempt petition stated that no steps were taken to address the creation of clerical posts in the district judiciary, and the matter was pending at different levels of the State government.
