The Punjab Government is considering approaching a higher court after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed it to clear the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) dues of government employees and pensioners.
A day after the court's order, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government said its legal team is studying the judgment and examining the state's constitutional rights before taking a final decision.
According to the state government, implementing the High Court's order would place an additional financial burden of around Rs 20,000 crore on the state exchequer.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the government was surprised by the court's order because it had already been following a liquidation plan approved earlier by the High Court for clearing pending dues.
The minister said the approved liquidation plan covers dues amounting to ₹14,191 crore and said the government has already been releasing these payments in a phased manner.
Explaining the background of the issue, Cheema said the recommendations of the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission were not implemented immediately after they were made in 2016, when the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government was in power and said the recommendations were implemented only in 2022, shortly before the Punjab Assembly elections, when the Congress government was in office.
According to the Finance Minister, although the Congress government announced the implementation of the revised pay scales, it decided not to release arrears for the period from 2016 to June 2022 and employees were given only the revised pay scales without the pending arrears and following this decision, some government employees approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking payment of the pending arrears.
Cheema said that after the AAP government came to power in 2022, it submitted a liquidation plan before the High Court to clear the pending dues of Rs 14,191 crore and also said the government has been releasing these dues in phases. According to the minister, during the financial year 2024-25, the government cleared the pending dues of pensioners who were above 85 years of age and in the financial year 2025-26, the government cleared the dues of pensioners who were above 75 years of age.
He said that during the current financial year, the government has started releasing the pending dues of the remaining pensioners as well as government employees. Cheema said that around Rs 6,000 crore has already been disbursed under the liquidation plan. The Finance Minister also referred to another case related to pending Dearness Allowance, in which some employees approached the High Court and said the state government informed the court that Punjab provides one of the highest pay scales in the country.
According to him, the government submitted before the court that it could either continue providing the higher pay scales recommended by the Punjab Pay Commission or provide the higher Dearness Allowance at the rate given by the Central Government, Cheema said the government remains committed to paying the rightful dues of employees and pensioners, however, he added that all financial and legal aspects of the matter have to be considered before taking any further decision.
He said the government's legal team is examining the High Court's judgment and all legal options remain open, including approaching a higher court against the order.
