Release of DA Arrears | Breather for Punjab as HC adjourns hearing to July 1, issues notice on stay plea
A single judge bench on April 8 had directed the Punjab government to grant 58 per cent DA alongwith arrears to all employees and pensioners at par with officers from the IAS, IPS, IFS and judicial services.
During the hearing, the MC placed before the Bench photographs, drone footage and a proposed site plan to submit that biodegradable legacy waste spread over nearly 25 acres was being manually processed and cleared.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing in the matter pertaining to release of pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears of Punjab government employees and pensioners till July 1. The court also issued notices to the respondents on the Punjab government’s plea seeking a stay on the April 8 order of the single bench, wherein the court had directed the State to release 58 per cent DA to the employees and pensioners.
As the matter came up for resumed hearing before a division bench of Justices Jasgurpreet Singh Puri and Amarjot Bhatti, Senior Advocate DS Patwalia, appearing for the Punjab government, submitted a sealed report of the Cabinet sub-committee outlining the proposed roadmap for releasing the pending DA arrears.
Patwalia submitted that the State is acting on the recommendations of the Cabinet sub-committee regarding the release of pending DA installments and implementation of revised DA rates for employees and sought a stay on the single Bench’s April 8 order.
A single judge bench on April 8 had directed the Punjab government to grant 58 per cent DA alongwith arrears to all employees and pensioners at par with officers from the IAS, IPS, IFS and judicial services.
While hearing the challenge to the order, the division bench on May 21 had agreed to consider extending the June 30 deadline, provided the State submits a plan detailing the amount it is willing to pay. The court also asked the government to submit the timeframe within which the remaining amount can be released.
During the resumed hearing, Patwalia placed before the Bench a recommendation of the Cabinet sub-committee constituted to assess the financial condition of the State for granting arrears of the 6th Pay Commission and DA/DR instalments to state employees.
The Bench, however, orally observed that it did not want recommendations and wanted practical efforts on the ground, not on paper.
Patwalia submitted that the state was not in a position to comply with the single bench directions to release arrears of more than Rs 15,000 crore to employees by June 30, 2026.
In its appeal, the State contended that the single bench judgment proceeds on the premise that employees and pensioners have an enforceable right to claim DA/DR at par with the central government or All India Services officers.
The appeal states that such a premise is “fundamentally erroneous” as neither the Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2009 nor 2021 provide for automatic or time-bound parity with Central Government DA rates.
The State has further submitted that the grant, timing and manner of disbursement of DA/DR is a matter of executive policy, dependent upon financial capacity and budgetary prioritisation. It has stated that it has not denied DA/DR or acted arbitrarily, but has extended the benefit in a phased manner.
The appeal also states that DA up to 119 per cent has already been released and that a structured liquidation plan involving liability of approximately Rs 14,191 crore has been approved by the Cabinet.
The State has argued that the single bench judgment “travels beyond the permissible limits of judicial review” by entering into fiscal policy and financial administration, and that implementation of the directions would impose an immediate and substantial financial burden on the state.
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