The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Punjab government over its failure to comply with directions concerning payment of long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to state government employees and pensioners.
The Chief Secretary, who appeared personally before the court, was questioned over the government’s failure to submit the compliance report by the August 31 deadline.
The employees’ counsel argued that the government had neither released the pending DA arrears within the stipulated timeframe nor filed the required compliance report. The government argued that it had approached the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) seeking relief. “The Bhagwant Mann government has stooped to such questionable tactics to avoid paying DA to its employees!
The Chief Secretary, who appeared personally before the court, was questioned over the government’s failure to submit the compliance report by the August 31 deadline. The case was brought back before the High Court after employees sought action against officials for allegedly failing to comply with the court’s August 3 directions.
Taking a swipe at the Bhagwant Mann government, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said the “veil of falsehood was lifted”. Bikram Singh Majithia said.
However, during the hearing, the High Court noted that the SLP filed before the Supreme Court was defective, raising serious questions over whether it was merely an attempt to delay compliance with the court’s orders.
