Chandigarh, Nov 3 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday issued a contempt notice to Punjab Chief Secretary K.A.P. Sinha over the state’s failure to comply with judicial directions for the payment of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to government employees and pensioners.
The court, expressing strong displeasure over the continued non-compliance with its earlier orders, directed Sinha to file his response by November 17, explaining the steps taken by the government to implement the directions.
The development came during a hearing in a contempt petition filed by government employees and pensioners alleging that the government had failed to release their outstanding DA and Dearness Relief (DR) instalments despite clear judicial instructions.
The Chief Secretary appeared before the court during proceedings. However, the government's explanation regarding the delay in implementing the orders failed to satisfy the court.
The government informed the court that it had challenged the High Court's earlier directions before the Supreme Court and that procedural defects in its appeal had been rectified.
It also indicated that the matter was likely to come up for hearing before the apex court shortly. However, the High Court made it clear that merely filing an appeal before the Supreme Court does not suspend the operation of its judgment.
Unless the Supreme Court stays the directions, the state government remains legally bound to comply with them. The court also questioned the government's failure to take concrete steps towards clearing the outstanding dues, particularly when repeated opportunities had already been granted.
Tuesday’s proceedings stem from an August 3 judgment of the High Court, which directed the state government and the Punjab State Power Corp Ltd (PSPCL) to release all pending DA and DR instalments to their employees and pensioners at rates equivalent to those applicable to All India Services officers serving in Punjab, in accordance with the Central Government pattern.
The court had directed that the payments be released within a fortnight. It had further stipulated that any delay beyond the prescribed deadline would attract simple interest at six per cent per annum until the actual payment was made.