SHIMLA — In a rather blunt confrontation between the executive and the judiciary on a shared public stage, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday used the Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU) convocation to air his administration's deep frustration over judicial overreach, warning that court orders stretching beyond statutory rules are paralyzing the state exchequer and hindering governance.
Addressing a dais lined with senior judges—including Supreme Court Judge Justice M.M. Sundresh and Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia—the Chief Minister remarked that justice in a democracy cannot be limited to rigid judicial decrees, pointedly noting that public skepticism rises when court rulings stall welfare policies and create insurmountable hurdles for elected governments.
Sukhu’s veiled attack comes against the backdrop of mounting administrative friction, as several key decisions of his government have been routinely overturned by the courts in recent times.
Political observers also point out that Sukhu—who ascended directly to the Chief Minister’s chair without prior executive experience as a cabinet minister—often finds his administrative inexperience exposed when taking complex policy decisions through legal scrutiny, a gap his administration urgently needs to address rather than placing the entire blame on judicial intervention.
Sukhu singled out court verdicts on public employment, complaining that rulings granting financial benefits beyond applicable recruitment terms have severely burdened state revenues.
Citing the 2003 policy that denied seniority and increments to contractual staff, he noted that court orders issued two decades later had mandated retrospective payouts despite no such provision in the rules.
"No elected government intends to deprive its government employees of their financial benefits, but it has to look at the state exchequer as well," Sukhu said, adding that courts must appreciate economic and ground realities.
Ventilating further ire, the Chief Minister cited an instance where the state had to pay Rs 5 lakh merely to hold official Independence Day celebrations after the High Court imposed conditions on using a government school playground, despite the hill state's severe shortage of flat public grounds.
While Sukhu balanced his remarks by affirming faith in the Constitution, offering infrastructure aid to HPNLU, and urging graduates to protect marginalized citizens, the convocation was dominated by his sharp critique delivered directly to the bench.
Supreme Court Judge Justice M.M. Sundresh later addressed the cohort, describing law graduates as "social architects" and urging them to navigate modern legal frontiers like artificial intelligence with professional integrity.
Degrees were conferred by HP High Court Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, while Honoris Causa doctorates were awarded to former CJI Sanjiv Khanna and other senior jurists.
#HPNLUConvocation #SukhvinderSinghSukhu #JudicialActivism #HimachalPradesh
