IndiaPosted at: Nov 4 2026 3:22PM


Punjab govt moves Supreme Court to quash contempt notice against chief secretary in DA arrears case

Neeraj Bali
New Delhi/Chandigarh, Nov 4 (UNI) The Punjab government Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash a criminal contempt notice issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to Chief Secretary K A P Sinha over allegedly misleading information submitted in a case involving Rs 22,818 crore in outstanding dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) arrears.
According to details of the government's petition, the dispute centres on an affidavit submitted to the High Court concerning the status of a special leave petition (SLP) challenging an earlier judicial order directing the state to clear pending payments to government employees and pensioners.
The High Court had prima facie observed that the affidavit contained deliberately incorrect information regarding the status of proceedings before the Supreme Court, prompting it to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against the chief secretary.
The Punjab government has contested the observation, arguing that the Supreme Court Registry had raised additional procedural objections to its petition after an earlier examination of the filing.
The government maintained that the procedural developments had not been properly considered before criminal contempt proceedings were initiated against the state's senior-most bureaucrat.
It also argued that civil contempt proceedings concerning the same underlying dispute were already pending before the High Court.
The legal challenge marks another development in the prolonged dispute between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and its employees and pensioners over accumulated DA and DR arrears.
On August 3, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the state government to release approximately Rs 14,191 crore in outstanding allowances within 15 days, with interest at 6 per cent annually on delayed payments.
The government subsequently challenged the order before the Supreme Court, filing an SLP on September 1 and refiling it on October 1 after addressing procedural deficiencies.
The status of that petition subsequently became central to the criminal contempt proceedings against the chief secretary.
In a separate development, the High Court initiated civil contempt proceedings over the alleged failure to comply with its payment directions, requiring the chief secretary to submit a response by November 13 and appear personally before the court on November 17.
The two proceedings involve distinct legal questions. The criminal contempt matter concerns the accuracy of information submitted to the court, while the civil contempt case relates to compliance with the judicial directions for payment of outstanding dues.
During the civil contempt proceedings, the High Court rejected the government's argument that the provision for 6 per cent annual interest on delayed payments effectively allowed additional time to clear the arrears.
"Merely pursuing the remedy of Special Leave Petition, without obtaining any order staying the operation of the judgment, cannot furnish a justification for continued non-compliance," Justice Harsh Bunger observed.
The court maintained that the interest provision was intended to compensate employees and pensioners for delayed payments rather than provide an alternative to compliance with its directions.
The dispute has also brought Punjab's financial liabilities under judicial scrutiny.
In an affidavit submitted on November 2, the government estimated outstanding DA and DR arrears at approximately Rs 22,818 crore for the period between July 2021 and September 2026.
It placed total pending financial obligations towards employees and pensioners, including other claims, at approximately Rs 32,418 crore.
The legal developments coincide with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's announcement of a further three-percentage-point increase in DA, raising the allowance to 53 per cent for nearly 800,000 employees and pensioners.
The government estimates that the latest revision will provide additional financial benefits worth Rs 363 crore.
However, the increase in monthly allowances does not resolve the dispute over accumulated arrears.
The Supreme Court's response to the government's petition will determine the next stage of the criminal contempt proceedings, while the separate civil contempt matter remains scheduled for hearing on November 17.
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