New Delhi: The Supreme Court raps the Kerala government for its failure to release the report prepared by the committee that was appointed to reexamine the contributory pension scheme.  The apex court stated that the delay in producing the report can actually be considered as a case of contempt of court. In the backdrop of the events, the Chief Secretary has been summoned to arrive directly by the SC on Friday. However, in case the government releases the particular report before this, then the Chief Secretary can skip the summons, noted the SC bench chaired by Justice AS Oka.

The Supreme Court gave the directions to the government in response to the petition filed by Jayachandran Kallingal, general secretary of Joint Council, a CPI organisation. Earlier, the state Right to Information Commission had also directed the government to release a copy of the committee report. However, back then, the Kerala High Court issued an order in favour of the state government in the case. The court noted that the report which had by then become a cabinet document could not be released until it was studied in detail. 

However, the argument that the particular report is a potential cabinet paper seems to have not pleased the apex court bench. Earlier, the hearing of the case was postponed to October 9 by the SC, as the government had sought more time to respond. However, the state government has so far not acted upon the case, earning the wrath of the apex court officials.