Chandigarh, Aug 3 The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday directed the Punjab government to clear pending dearness allowance (DA) of employees and pensioners within a fortnight.
Dismissing the appeals filed by the state government and the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) against the single bench's direction to release pending DA to its employees and pensioners, the court further directed that till all such dues are cleared, the government shall not resort to any unproductive expenditures, such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media, as these expenses cannot justify the denial of dues admissible to the employees.
The bench comprising acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor further directed that in default of payment within the time aforesaid, the unpaid amounts shall carry simple interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date.
The chief secretary has been directed to ensure scrupulous compliance of the directions and file a compliance report through affidavit before the registry of the court by August 31.
According to the court order, “The State of Punjab and PSPCL are directed to grant and release all up-to-date pending installments of Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief (DA/DR) to all its employees and pensioners, respectively, at the same rates as has been paid to the members of the All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) serving within the State of Punjab, in accordance with the Central Government pattern, within a fortnight.”
Advocate Rashpinder Singh, the counsel for employees of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, said that the dues are estimated to be around Rs 15,000 crore.
Advocate Sunny Singla, appearing for the employees' organisations, told reporters that instead of complying with the single-bench order in April, the government had filed a Letters Patent Appeal.
On April 8, a single bench of the high court had directed Punjab to clear the pending dearness allowance of state government employees and pensioners by June 30.
The court of Justice Harpreet Singh Brar was hearing a bunch of petitions regarding the delay in the release of DA of employees and pensioners.
The single bench, in its interim order in April, had directed the Punjab government to clear the pending DA of all employees as well as pensioners, rejecting its submission regarding strained financial health.
The counsel for the petitioners had earlier submitted that DA instalments with effect from July 1, 2023 have not been released to serving employees and pensioners.
On the other hand, a differential treatment was being accorded to serving All India Service officers (IAS/IPS/IFS) and judicial officers within Punjab, the petitioners submitted.
