Shimla, Nov. 6 -- The Himachal Pradesh high court (HC) has delivered a severe reprimand to the state government over its failure to release allocated funds, warning that the lack of budget is "disrupting the normal functioning of the courts" and threatening to issue a contempt notice against the state's finance secretary. Taking strict note of the failure to provide funds since September 2025, a division bench comprising Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma has directed the finance secretary to appear personally before the court on November 13 with a bank draft of Rs.10 crore payable to the registrar general of the High Court. The court order explicitly stated the gravity of the situation, warning that failure to comply would result in a contempt notice. ".... let the secretary (finance) come present in this Court along with necessary draft of Rs.10 crore, in favour of the registrar general, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, failing which contempt notice will be issued as the lack of payment is hampering this court from running its day-to-day functioning," the order read. The Bench observed that the state's inaction was "apparently, prima facie, prejudicing and interfering and intending to interfere in the due course of judicial proceedings and the administration of justice" under Sections 2(c), 2(i), and 3(i) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. The order, however, offered an immediate resolution, clarifying that if the outstanding amount is disbursed into the High Court's account, the Finance Secretary would be excused from the personal appearance. The next hearing on November 13. The court is hearing the matter under a suo motu (on its own motion) public interest litigation initiated in 2023, which was prompted by persistent delays in the payment of administrative expenses to both retired justices and courts. The total pending payment from the state government is over Rs.10 crore, Rs.6.88 crore outstanding for general administrative expenses and Rs.4.07 crore pending for the purchase of new court vehicles. The court also highlighted the state's continued failure to comply with a Supreme Court directive to implement the Andhra Pradesh model for payment of financial benefits to retired judges, which requires accrual from October 1, 2014. The government's implementation from May 14, 2025, has left payments for the prior period in limbo....