Tripura HC slightly modifies order on law secretary issue

The Tripura High Court has slightly modified its order over the posting of Law Secretary Datamohan Jamatia, asking him to join as district and sessions judge on November 2 instead of earlier August 3, an official said on Sunday.

"Following state Law Minister Tapan Chakraborty's second letter to High Court Chief Justice Deepak Gupta, the court slightly modified its transfer order asking Jamatia to join his new posting on November 2 instead of August 3," a law department official said here on Sunday.

High Court registrar general Manik Chakraborty, in a notification on Saturday, asked Chief Secretary Yashpal Singh to choose a new law secretary by October 31.

The tussle between the high court and the state government kicked off after the court issued a notification on July 14 to transfer Jamatia as district and sessions judge of Unakoti district.

Law Minister Chakraborty, in his letter to the chief justice, expressed the state government's inability to relieve Jamatia as law secretary as he was looking after cases pending in the Supreme Court and upcoming elections to the local bodies in Tripura.

The minister wrote the letter on July 30 after the high court on July 23 turned down the law minister's plea and stuck to its earlier decision.

A division bench of the high court in April wanted contempt of court charges to be framed against Jamatia for making derogatory remark about the judiciary in an official note to Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

Jamatia denied making any such remarks and filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the high court decision.