The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday sought a formal response from the Punjab government on a criminal contempt petition initiated against chief secretary KAP Sinha for making a “prima facie false statement” in the ongoing dearness allowance (DA) case of Punjab employees and pensioners.
On October 9, the bench of chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor had referred the matter to contempt court observing, “ “This court is enjoined with the task of ensuring that the majesty of the court is not compromised in any manner. Even suggestions questioning the propriety in conduct of court proceedings must be dealt with carefully”.
The matter was placed before the bench of justice Vinod S Bhardwaj and justice Ravinder Malik that posted matter for hearing on October 30 and sought the affidavit within one week and appointed senior advocate RS Cheema as amicus curiae to assist the court. The chief secretary was present through virtual mode.
The contempt proceedings against the chief secretary stems from August 3 order of high court. In that ruling, the court ordered the state to release all pending DA installments to employees and pensioners on a par with central government rates paid to All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers within a fortnight. The court also barred the state from indulging in “unproductive expenditures”, such as large-scale print or social media ad campaigns, until all dues were settled, directing the chief secretary to file a compliance affidavit by August 31.
The government failed to meet the deadline and filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on September 1. A month later, the top court is yet to hear the matter because the state has not rectified defects flagged by the top court’s registry. However, on October 5 Sinha made a claim before the court that a fresh appeal had been filed in DA case in Supreme Court after curing all defects, a statement-proved wrong from the records of the SC registry. Following this, the bench of chief justice had referred the matter to the present bench having contempt court jurisdiction on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}The government failed to meet the deadline and filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on September 1. A month later, the top court is yet to hear the matter because the state has not rectified defects flagged by the top court’s registry. However, on October 5 Sinha made a claim before the court that a fresh appeal had been filed in DA case in Supreme Court after curing all defects, a statement-proved wrong from the records of the SC registry. Following this, the bench of chief justice had referred the matter to the present bench having contempt court jurisdiction on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}Appearing for employees and pensioners, senior advocates Sanjay Kaushal and Chetan Mittal had alleged that there was “deliberate delay” on the part of the government in pursuing appeal or releasing the DA as directed by the high court. It was also alleged despite a restraint order in violation of the order, advertisements were issued by the government in many parts of the country. The finance department issued a letter saying no order of the high court was to be implemented without its permission, the court was told.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the state, denied allegations of deliberately delaying listing of the appeal in the top court. Detailed order is awaited.