P&H High Court: Slams Punjab Government DA Payment Delay Over Stuck Appeal

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court criticized the Punjab government for its failure to get its Supreme Court appeal regarding Dearness Allowance payments listed.
• The court suggested a 'deliberate designed effort' by the government to prevent its Special Leave Petition from being heard.
• An August 3 High Court ruling had directed Punjab to pay all pending DA/DR to employees and pensioners at rates comparable to All India Services officers.
• That earlier judgment also prohibited the government from unproductive expenditures, like advertising, until the DA/DR dues are cleared.
• The government's Supreme Court petition challenging the DA ruling has been with the registry since September 1 due to defects, preventing its listing.

The court suggested a 'deliberate designed effort' by the government to prevent its Special Leave Petition from being listed, especially given its success in bringing other cases before the apex court.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently expressed strong disapproval of the Punjab government's actions concerning the payment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to its employees and pensioners. The court specifically highlighted the government's failure to ensure that its appeal against a previous High Court ruling was properly listed before the Supreme Court, leading to significant delays in the resolution of the `Punjab government DA payment delay`.

During a hearing on a plea alleging non-compliance with a directive for Chief Secretary KAP Sinha to file a compliance affidavit, a bench comprising Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj and Justice Ravinder Malik made pointed observations. The judges stated that the sequence of events presented

This judicial scrutiny stems from a comprehensive directive issued by the High Court on August 3. In that ruling, the court mandated the State of Punjab to release all up-to-date pending installments of dearness allowance and dearness relief (DA/DR) to all its employees and pensioners. Crucially, the order specified that these payments must be made at the same rates as those provided to All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers serving within Punjab, directly addressing the disparity in `IAS IPS IFS DA rates Punjab`.

Beyond the financial directive, the August 3 judgment also imposed a significant restriction on the state government. It explicitly barred the government from engaging in any unproductive expenditures, such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media, until all outstanding DA/DR dues were fully settled. The State of Punjab subsequently challenged this `P&H High Court DA ruling` before the Supreme Court, initiating the `Punjab government Supreme Court appeal DA`. However, this petition has remained with the apex court's registry since September 1, reportedly due to identified procedural defects, preventing its listing for hearing.

The High Court's strong remarks underscore a growing judicial impatience with perceived delaying tactics by state authorities in complying with court orders. The bench's observation that there was

This ruling underscores the judiciary's increasing intolerance for state governments' delaying tactics in complying with court orders, particularly concerning employee benefits. Lawyers advising government entities should note the potential for stricter enforcement and adverse orders, including restrictions on expenditure, if compliance is not timely and transparent.

Source: Original reporting via court observations