The Supreme Court has issued contempt notice to Rachna Shah IAS, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), and another senior official for allegedly failing to convene a Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC) meeting to consider the appointment of Captain Pramod Kumar Bajaj, an IRS officer, as Member (Accountant) in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), despite a clear direction issued by the Court on January 30, 2026.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing the contempt petition filed by Captain Pramod Kumar Bajaj seeking enforcement of the January 30, 2026 judgment. The Court had directed the Union Government to constitute the SCSC and consider the petitioner’s candidature within four weeks, with the outcome to be communicated within two weeks thereafter.
The petitioner had cleared multiple selection processes over several years, including securing All India Rank 1 in an SCSC chaired by a sitting Supreme Court judge in 2014. However, his appointment was repeatedly stalled by the government on the basis of allegedly cooked-up charges.
In the principal judgment, the Supreme Court had strongly criticised the Union for deliberately creating hurdles and observed:
“…at every stage of proceedings, the respondents have deliberately created hurdles in the path of the petitioner by either putting up cooked-up charges or failing to ensure compliance with the orders passed by various fora.”
The Court had also imposed costs of ₹5 lakhs on the Union and issued a specific direction:
“The respondent No.1-DoPT shall ensure that a fresh meeting of the SCSC is convened within a period of four weeks from today to consider the candidature of the petitioner for the above post, ensuring exclusion of ‘the Officer’ from the said proceedings. The outcome of the SCSC proceedings shall be communicated to the petitioner within a further period of two weeks thereafter.”
Claiming complete non-compliance with the above binding directions, the petitioner moved the contempt petition. The Supreme Court has now issued notice to the contemnors, returnable on April 14, 2026. In the meantime, the personal appearance of the respondents/contemnors has been dispensed with.
Cause Title: Captain Pramod Kumar Bajaj Versus Rachna Shah & Anr.
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