In a legal twist to the DA arrears case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday issued a contempt notice to Punjab Chief Secretary (CS) K A P Sinha (IAS:1992:PB). The court has asked him why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for making a “prima facie false statement” in a case over pending dearness allowance (DA) for state employees and pensioners.
A bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor has now directed the Chief Secretary to be present on Friday when the court would resume hearing.
The High Court is hearing pleas over non-compliance with its August 3 order, directing the Punjab govt to release all pending DA and dearness relief instalments to its employees and pensioners within a fortnight, at the rates paid to All India Services officers on the Central government pattern. The court had also directed that unpaid amounts would carry simple interest at six per cent a year if not paid on time.
The Punjab govt then filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court on September 1, arguing that the HC’s direction to pay arrears, totaling around Rs 14,191 crore, in so short a period was constitutionally impossible.
The HC later detected defects in the Punjab govt’s appeal filed in the top court and asked the CS to remove them. The CS had stated that defects had been removed, but a report by the HC registry showed that defects remained unremoved. It contradicted the Chief Secretary’s stand, prompting the High Court to issue contempt notice.
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