Clear dearness allowance dues by June 30, HC tells Punjab

Govt told to clear all DA instalments at rates paid to All India Services officers serving in the state on central pattern

The high court has directed the Punjab government to grant and release all up-to-date pending instalments of dearness allowance (DA) to all its employees and pensioners at the rates paid to the members of the All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers serving in the state on the Central government pattern by June 30.

The Punjab chief secretary has been directed to ensure scrupulous compliance and file a report on July 2. The judgment was passed on April 8 and released on Sunday.

The bench of justice Harpreet Singh Brar also quashed the February 18, 2025, letter issued by the state finance department that mandated segregation of pensioners into three different categories for payment of arrears of revised pension and DA, delaying release to younger pensioners.

The chief secretary has been directed to ensure scrupulous compliance and file a report on July 2. The judgment was passed on April 8 and released on Sunday.

In the petitions filed on different dates this year by employees and pensioners, they had challenged Punjab’s failure to grant DA and dearness relief (DR) instalments in accordance with the 6th Punjab Pay Commission recommendations. Although the government has formally accepted the payment of DA/DR on the “central government pattern.”

However, it subsequently delayed these payments, citing financial constraints. They had also challenged the liquidation plan, which staggered the payment of arrears revised pension/family pension (including DR arrears) into tiers based on the age of pensioners. It was also alleged that while employees and pensioners of Punjab were denied up-to-date DA on the central government pattern, All India Service Officers (IAS/IPS/IFS) were receiving these benefits in full from the same consolidated fund of the state government.

‘Arbitrary policy’

In its 94-page judgment, the court held that when a policy decision is arbitrary, violates fundamental rights, suffers from the vice of irrationality or is contrary to statutory or constitutional provisions, the courts can invoke the power of judicial review to ensure constitutional supremacy and accountability.

“...adoption of the ‘central government pattern’ by the Government of Punjab necessarily means that the state is aligning its approach for grant of DA with that of the central government…..in adopting the central government ‘pattern,’ the government of Punjab has agreed to mirror the central government’s system regarding DA i.e. its rates, formula, timing, and structure. If the government accepts the pattern but ignores the timing, it has effectively rejected the pattern,” it said while interpreting the term ‘central government pattern’, which the state government had adopted as a policy decision.

The court underlined that once the government has accepted the recommendation of the 6th pay commission, the benefits arising from the said recommendations cannot be denied to the petitioners.

It asserted that Punjab cannot deny the payment of DA to the petitioners on the ground of its financial position and priorities. “Financial hardship cannot be invoked as a blanket justification to deny the legitimate, accrued service benefits,” it added.

The court said that the staggered payment plan (dividing pensioners by age) is constitutionally invalid. “Since all pensioners form a single “homogeneous class” and inflation impacts every retiree with equal severity regardless of age, it is unjustifiable to make younger pensioners wait years for their arrears. Such a classification was deemed arbitrary and discriminatory,” it remarked.

The court held that all employees and pensioners of the government constitute a single class and must be treated at par as far as payment of DA is concerned. “As the lower-rank government employees and pensioners depend heavily on DA/DR adjustments to maintain basic economic stability, denying them such protection against inflation while extending the benefit to the highest-paid officers creates a structural imbalance in the service framework,” it noted, rejecting the argument of the state government that the All- India Services officers are under a different set of rules.

It said government counsel was unable to point out any rational basis or distinguishing circumstance which would justify granting such officers preferential treatment in the matter of DA/DR, particularly when the impact of inflation is uniform for all employees.

“...all employees and pensioners are equally affected by the impact of inflation and, therefore, constitute a homogeneous class. As a natural corollary, the directions issued by the court must extend to all similarly situated employees and pensioners, and cannot be confined merely to the petitioners herein,” it said, directing the government to clear DA of all employees and pensioners by the deadline set out by the court.