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Bengal review plea against HC order to pay dearness allowance arrears rejected
The West Bengal government will appeal to the Supreme Court against the Calcutta high court order on payment of dearness allowance arrears running into ₹25,000 crore
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Thursday rejected a review petition filed by the West Bengal government seeking reconsideration of the court’s May 20 order that directed the state to pay dearness allowance (DA) arrears to its employees before August 20 this year, state officials said.
“The bench has recognised the rightful demand of the petitioners,” lawyer Firdous Shamim, who represented state government employees in the high court, said on the ruling by a bench of justices Harish Tandon and Rabindranath Samanta.
It is estimated that payment of DA arrears will cost the cash-strapped West Bengal government around ₹25,000 crore.
Bengal government officials said they will appeal against the high court ruling in the Supreme Court.
Upholding a 2019 order of the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), the bench directed the government on May 20 to release dearness allowance dues pending since July 2019, when the Revision of Pay and Allowances (ROPA) rules came into effect in the state. The tribunal directed payment of DA on par with the central government and told the state to pay the arrears in three installments.
The Bengal government petitioned the high court against the tribunal’s 2019 order. The last hearing on the writ petition took place on September 9.
On Thursday, the division bench said that it will hear in November a petition by state government employees that seeks contempt proceedings against the state government for non-payment of the DA arrears despite the high court’s clear orders.
“Chief minister Mamata Banerjee can grant ₹250 crore for community Durga puja organisers but refuses to give state employees what they rightfully deserve,” said Sukanta Majumdar, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit.
Countering him, Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy said: “The grant for Durga puja is not a big amount when compared against the DA arrears. The BJP has no right to talk on such lines because the government it runs at the Centre has stopped payment of funds towards rural employment under MNREGA.”
