DA case: HC imposes Rs 1L cost on Pb CS

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on Punjab Chief Secretary K A P Sinha for failing to file a compliance report in a case pertaining to the pending dearness allowance of employees and pensioners.

A bench of Justice Harsh Bunger also directed the chief secretary to file a personal affidavit by October 30 regarding the court’s earlier orders in connection with the release of DA to the state government employees and pensioners.

The chief secretary has also been directed to be physically present in the court on November 3, which is the next date of hearing.

The directions came on a contempt petition filed by employees and pensioners over the non-compliance with the court’s August 3 order of releasing DA and dearness relief dues to state 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.

The court had then further directed that till all such dues are cleared, the state of Punjab shall 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 of payment within the time aforesaid, the unpaid amounts shall carry simple interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, the court had then directed. The state of Punjab had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court on September 1 against the high court order.

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The Hans India