Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha (IAS:1992:PB) has finally tendered an unconditional apology to the Punjab and Haryana High Court after being issued a contempt notice for giving false statement in the Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears case.
Only last week, the court had even imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him, besides asking him to appear before it in person on November 3 to explain the actions taken to comply with its earlier orders.
The High Court, in its October 6 order, had observed that the statement made by Sinha in his earlier affidavit was “palpably false” and asked why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated.
It all began with the High Court 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 (SLP) 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 a contempt notice.
The Chief Secretary said that he was bound by the High Court and the top court orders and could not even think of disobeying the same.
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