Punjab High Court orders state govt to clear pending DA within 15 days — Here's all we know

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered the state to clear pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears of employees and pensioners within a fortnight, according to a PTI report.

The court dismissed the Punjab government and the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) 's appeals against the single-judge bench's order directing the release of dues and barring the state from “unproductive expenditures,” such as large-scale social media or print advertisements, stating that these costs cannot be justified while denying employees their dues.

Punjab HC order on DA dues: What did the court say?

• The two-judge bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor directed that pending DA dues be paid to employees and pensioners within a fortnight.

• In case of default of payment within the timeline, the bench has imposed simple interest of 6% per annum on the unpaid amounts from the due date.
• The court has also directed the chief secretary to ensure “scrupulous compliance” with its directions and ordered that a compliance report be filed through an affidavit before the HC's registry by 31 August.
• Here's the 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.”

All India Services members include the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), and the Indian Forest Service (IFS).

• The dues are estimated at around ₹15,000 crore, according to Advocate Rashpinder Singh, counsel for PSPCL employees.
• Advocate Sunny Singla, who appeared 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.

What was the single-bench order?

On April 8, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar of the high court directed the state to clear DA and DR dues by 30 June after hearing a bunch of petitions regarding the delay in the release of DA of employees and pensioners, as per the report.

Before that, in an interim order in April as well, the bench rejected the Punjab government's submission regarding strained financial health and directed it to clear pending dues of all employees and pensioners.

As per the report, Singla had submitted that DA instalments since 1 July 2023 have not been released. The petitioners added that differential treatment was being accorded to serving All India Service officers and judicial officers in Punjab.

‘Punjab pays employees 30-70% higher than the Centre’

In an official statement, Punjab government said that state employees “historically” received higher salaries than central government staff, with some earning 30-70% more under the state's pay structure, another PTI report said.

• According to the statement, the total monthly salary of a clerk in Punjab is ₹54,812, as against ₹36,960 in the central government.
• Similarly, a driver in Punjab earns ₹40,612, compared to ₹36,960 in the central government.

It added that while DA is set at 42% of basic pay, compared to the Centre's 60%, state employees receive higher aggregate monthly salaries due to their pay scales. It added that the higher central government DA rate cannot be applied on top of Punjab's already higher pay scales, as the two pay structures cannot be combined.

The state also maintained that the fixation of DA is a sovereign policy decision of the state government. “Punjab already bears the highest salary and pension burden among major Indian states,” it said.

What are employee demands?

The Joint Coordination Committee (JAC) of Punjab Government Employees and Pensioners is pushing long-pending pension DA and pension-related demands to be fulfilled by the state government. These include:

• Approval for 18% DA hike,
• Restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS),
• Implementation of the 4-9-14 Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme,
• Withdrawal of notifications related to probation and pay rules,
• Regularisation of contractual, outsourced and other temporary employees,
• Revision of pensions in line with the recommendations of the 6th Punjab state pay commission,
• Restoration of withdrawn allowances,
• Enhancement of retirement gratuity,
• Implementation of the 6th Punjab state pay commission’s remaining recommendations, and
• Extension of minimum wages to women working on honorarium under various government schemes.

(With inputs from PTI)