The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the Punjab government to promptly pursue its challenge before the Supreme Court against the High Court’s directions on payment of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) instalments.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor made it clear that while the State has the right to challenge the High Court’s order, it cannot leave the matter pending without actively pursuing its Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court.
The Bench was hearing applications concerning the alleged non-compliance with the High Court’s August 3 judgment, and the judgment had directed the Punjab government and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to release all up-to-date pending DA and DR instalments at the rates applicable under the Central Government pattern.
During Thursday’s hearing, the State’s counsel informed the Court that the government was in the process of removing defects in its challenge before the Supreme Court, and the counsel also referred to the 90-day limitation period available for filing an appeal.
The High Court clarified that it was not questioning the State’s right to approach the Supreme Court, however, it asked the government to actively pursue the matter instead of allowing the SLP to remain in defects, “Don't try to play. Don't try to hoodwink the Court. Do not try to play games with the Court. You have a right of appeal. Please pursue that right,” the Bench observed.
The Court asked the State to get its appeal heard by next week or make a mention before the Supreme Court that the matter had already been filed and was awaiting listing.
The Chief Justice also questioned why the State had not yet got its appeal heard despite the High Court having been informed earlier that the matter was lying in defects, “Get your appeal heard. We're adjourning it by a week,” the Bench said, adding that the Court would consider the arguments and objections from both sides if the State did not pursue its remedy before the Supreme Court.
The Bench reiterated that every party aggrieved by a judgment has a right to appeal and said the State should use whatever legal remedy was available to it.
The issue also involved the question of compliance with the August 3 judgment.
Senior advocate Chetan Mittal, appearing for the applicants, submitted that whatever compliance had been made by the State should be placed before the High Court through an affidavit, and he argued that the State should also mention in the affidavit that it had filed an SLP and that the matter was likely to be listed before the Supreme Court.
The State counsel, meanwhile, raised concerns about possible multiplicity of litigation and the counsel pointed out that the original petitioners had already initiated contempt proceedings before the regular Bench over the alleged non-compliance with the August 3 judgment.
The dispute relates to an earlier common judgment passed on April 8.
The judgment directed the Punjab government to release DA to its employees and DR to its pensioners at the same rates as those being paid to members of the All India Services serving in Punjab, in accordance with the Central Government pattern.
The Court had initially directed compliance by June 30 and required the Chief Secretary to submit an affidavit regarding implementation of the directions.
The State and PSPCL subsequently challenged the directions through appeals.
On August 3, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor dismissed the appeals filed by Punjab and PSPCL and upheld the directions issued by the Single Judge and since the original June 30 deadline had already passed while the appeals were pending, the Division Bench modified the implementation timeline.
The August 3 judgment directed Punjab and PSPCL to release the pending DA and DR instalments within a fortnight. The issue before the High Court now concerns the alleged non-compliance with those directions, while the State’s challenge remains pending before the Supreme Court after being filed with defects and the High Court has adjourned the matter for a week and asked the Punjab government to pursue its Supreme Court remedy in the meantime.
