Supreme Court stays contempt case against Punjab Chief Secretary in DA case, seeks payment plan from government

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed criminal contempt proceedings initiated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court against Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and other officers over the non-implementation of its ruling on payment of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) to employees and pensioners.

On August 3, the High Court had directed the State to release all up-to-date pending installments of dearness allowance/dearness relief (DA/DR) to all its employees and pensioners respectively at the same rates as paid to the All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers serving within Punjab.

The judgment, which also bars the government from resorting to any unproductive expenditures such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media till non-payment of the dues, has been challenged by the State before the Supreme Court.

Since the government failed to implement the order, both civil and criminal contempt proceedings were filed before the High Court.

A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan today stayed the proceedings in the criminal contempt case before the High Court till further orders.

"We have perused the impugned order dated 12/10/2026 and 30/10/2026. In the subsequent order we note that CS Punjab has been directed to be present in person today in the high court in criminal contempt initiated by the respondents herein. We have also been apprised on the background of the dispute between the parties leading to filing of criminal contempt proceedings. Stay in further proceedings in the criminal contempt until further orders," the Court directed.

The Court also directed that no coercive steps shall be taken in the civil contempt case.

The Court granted the relief while directing the Punjab government to come up with a plan on disbursal of pending amounts on or before March 2027. It noted that the present DA is at the rate of 53 percent.

"You got a breather. Come up with a positive response. How much will you release," the Court said, while adjourning the matter to December.

During the hearing, the Court remarked that government employees are a privileged class as compared to those in the unorganised and corporate sectors.

"Govt servants should come in contract basis. Then only they will be accountable. They take recruitment in High Court, district court. Then go to secretariat. Then type 3 pages in a day. If govt employees were sincere the litigation would come down in this country. Pensions are being received by families after death of govt servant. Where is the accountability of govt servants?," the Court asked.

On October 12, the High Court had issued a contempt of court notice to Chief Secretary for misrepresenting facts about the filing of the Punjab government's appeal in the Supreme Court.

The Court had also taken note of an instruction issued by the Finance Secretary asking department heads not to implement the August 3 ruling.

"We are of the opinion that the applicants have prima facie reflected upon documents that bring the case within the ambit of criminal contempt, however, before defence of the respondents-contemnors can be considered, a formal notice is required to be served upon them. Notice of motion is issued to the respondents-contemnors to the Criminal Contempt," the Court ordered on October 12.

Today, the High Court adjourned the criminal contempt matter after it was informed that the Supreme Court was hearing the State's challenge against the orders passed in contempt proceedings.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh represented the State of Punjab and its officers. Additional Advocate Generals Vivek Jain, Rajat Bharadwaj and Mohd Irshad with advocate Karan Sharma also appeared for the State.

Senior Advocates PS Patwalia and Shadan Farasat appeared for Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).