The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) on Tuesday issued a fresh contempt notice to the Punjab chief secretary over the non-compliance with an order regarding the release of dearness allowance (DA), estimated at ₹ 37,000 crore by the state government, to its employees and pensioners.
The apex court is yet to hear the matter as the state government has not cleared the defects flagged by the top court’s registry. The second contempt proceeding, criminal in nature, against KAP Sinha was initiated by a different bench over his claim that after curing all defects, a fresh appeal had been filed, a statement proved wrong by records of the Supreme Court registry. Appearing for the state government, senior advocate Vikas Singh submitted that the SC registry’s objections had been removed. He termed the situation embarrassing for the state.
The government failed to meet the deadline and filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on September 1. This contempt petition was filed on August 21 by employees and pensioners after the government failed to adhere to the DA release deadline of August 18. On September 27, the court fined the chief secretary ₹ 1 lakh and summoned him for Tuesday’s hearing. During Tuesday’s hearing, the government’s affidavit mentioned that the total pending liability of the claims is ₹ 32,418 crore, and in addition, payment of DA at central government rates would entail another ₹ 4,712 crore per year. The HC order stipulated that if DA was not released, the unpaid amount would carry simple interest of 6%, according to Singh.
However, any tentative date about the listing can’t be given, he said while seeking more time. “Once the order itself provides for the consequence of non-payment within the stipulated period, then a mere failure to release the amounts within the prescribed period would not constitute willful disobedience,” he submitted. Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar-Surjit) president Giani Harpreet Singh accused the state government of making chief secretary KAP Sinha a “scapegoat”. In a statement, he said the government was allowing the state’s top bureaucrat to face judicial strictures and contempt proceedings over the non-payment of employees’ dues, while remaining a “mute spectator”.
