On 13 July 2015, a bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, issued notice to the Government of Uttar Pradesh on a petition filed by an IAS officer of UP cadre, Vijay Shankar Pandey, who has alleged that the UP Government led by Akhilesh Yadav is harassing him. His SLP (C) No. 17981/2015 [Vijay Shankar Pandey v. Union of India] was listed before the said bench. He has filed this petition against the alleged mala fide acts of the UP Government in sitting over a proposal by the Centre to call him on central deputation.
Earlier this year, the Government of India had requested the UP Government to intimate the availability of Vijay Shankar Pandey for central deputation, who is currently working as Secretary in the National Integration Department of the UP state. The UP Government did not respond to this request. It was argued in the Supreme Court on behalf of Pandey that the delay in decision on this issue was deliberate to deprive him of his legitimate claims of a progression in his service. It was alleged that this was being done since Pandey had earlier exposed corruption by moving the court. It was brought to the knowledge of the SC that Pandey had actively participated as a member of a social group which had filed a PIL and prompted the Supreme Court to pass a judgment on setting up an SIT to retrieve black money. Moreover, in 2014, the Supreme Court had quashed the disciplinary proceedings against Pandey observing that a person exposing corruption by moving a court should not be subjected to disciplinary action. Further, the SC had also directed the state government to pay Rs. 5 lakh to Pandey as costs on the ground that the said action appeared to be to suppress any probe into the question of black money.
