The Meghalaya High Court has sharply criticised the state government for failing to clear medical and travel reimbursement bills of Judicial Officers for nearly a decade, directing payment of 9 per cent annual interest on all delayed claims dating from 2014 to 2022. The order was passed on Thursday, 13 August, with the court expressing alarm that even trivially small amounts had gone unsettled for years.

What the Court Found

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice W. Diengdoh was hearing a petition filed by the Registrar General of the High Court of Meghalaya. The Bench had previously summoned the Secretaries of the Law and Finance departments after taking serious note of the prolonged pendency of reimbursement claims.

Among the specific cases cited, a bill of ₹57,680 had been languishing in the e-Proposal system since October 2014 with no sanction order issued. A claim of ₹15,860 had reportedly been pending with the Law Department since 2017, while ₹22,126 had remained unsettled since June 2018.

'Some of the amounts are extremely negligible and small, yet they have not been disbursed till date,' the court observed, pressing the government on the reasons behind the inordinate delay.

Government's Assurance and Court's Directions

Appearing for the state government, Advocate General A. Kumar assured the Bench that all proposals forwarded by the High Court would be taken up on priority and processed expeditiously. He committed to clearing the pending bills of Judicial Officers within two weeks.

The court, however, went further. It directed the government to pay 9 per cent interest per annum on delayed claims, calculated from the respective dates of submission of each bill until the date of actual payment. All pending bills from 2022 onwards were ordered to be processed and disbursed within two weeks.

Accountability Measures Ordered

Beyond the financial directions, the Bench ordered the Commissioner and Secretary of the Law Department to conduct a formal enquiry into the delays and take appropriate action against officials found responsible. This signals that the court views the non-payment not merely as administrative backlog but as a potential dereliction of duty.

Notably, the failure to disburse reimbursements to sitting Judicial Officers raises broader questions about the state's commitment to judicial independence — officers dependent on the executive for routine expense settlements face an institutional vulnerability that courts across the country have consistently flagged.

GPO Land Issue Also Reviewed

The court also took up a separate matter concerning GPO land near the High Court premises. It directed the Advocate General and the Deputy Solicitor General of India to convene a joint meeting with officials from the GPO, PWD, and Urban Affairs Department to work out a resolution to the land dispute.

The matter is expected to come up for further hearing once the government files a compliance report on the reimbursement payments and the enquiry into the delays.