The high court on Thursday told the Punjab government to promptly pursue its appeal in dearness allowance (DA) case before the Supreme Court. It, however, made it clear that the government can’t keep the high court directions in “limbo” for an indefinite period of time.
The high court bench of chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor was responding to applications filed by some retirees and employees, who are alleging non-compliance of high court order.
“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 categorically told the lawyers from the government side.
It was on August 3, the bench presided over by the chief justice had directed the Punjab government to release all up-to-date pending instalments of 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, within a fortnight.
The court had also ordered that till all such dues are cleared, the government would not “resort to any unproductive expenditures”, such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media, as these expenses cannot justify the denial of dues admissible to state employees. In default, the unpaid amounts would carry 6% interest per annum.
{{/usCountry}}The court had also ordered that till all such dues are cleared, the government would not “resort to any unproductive expenditures”, such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media, as these expenses cannot justify the denial of dues admissible to state employees. In default, the unpaid amounts would carry 6% interest per annum.
{{/usCountry}}The chief secretary was also asked to ensure scrupulous compliance and file an affidavit about it by August 31. However, the government has failed to comply with the order. It has filed an appeal before the apex court on September 1 and lawyers before high court had alleged that government is yet to remove some defects pointed out by high court registry. Hence, the apex court has not listed the case for hearing.
As the hearing began, state’s counsel had claimed that an appeal has been filed against the August 3 order and government is in the process of removing defects and the counsel also referred to the 90-day limitation period for filing such appeals.
However, the court clarified that the government’s right to challenge a high court order is not in question and the HC respects right of a litigant to file an appeal against an adverse order.
“What you are doing, we don’t want to say anything. But please get your appeal heard by next week, or otherwise, make a mention that you have already filed it. We would respect. You have all the right to challenge the order, but it cannot remain like this that you will not pursue the matter there. All these kind of tactics, we also understand,” the court asserted.
The court also pointed out that during the last hearing on September 7, some lawyers had highlighted that defects flagged by the apex court registry ate yet to be removed.
“Get your appeal heard. We’re adjourning it by a week. Otherwise, whatever arguments are to come from their side or your objections, we will deal with it. But at the first instance, we do recognise that every person aggrieved by our judgment has a right of appeal. So please do it. Don’t do it like this,” the court said, while listing the matter for hearing on September 21.
During the hearing, the counsel for an applicant, senior advocate, Chetan Mittal pointed out that state has failed to file a compliance report and deadline for the same was August 31. Even if, they have to say that an appeal has been filed against the August 3 order, it has to be filed in the form of an affidavit, he submitted.
According to the government’s own estimates, if the order is to be implemented it would need around ₹14,191 crore. Though some estimates put the figure at ₹20,000 crores.
The employees have already filed a caveat before the apex court demanding that before an order is passed on the appeal from the state government, the affected employees should also be heard. The 3 lakh employees observed a statewide mass strike on August 27 and subsequently on August 8.