P&H High Court bars Punjab government from large-scale advertising till payment of DA to employees, pensioners

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday barred Punjab government from issuing any large-scale advertising campaigns till it releases Dearness Allowance (DA) to employees and pensioners in compliance with a recent judgment of a single-bench.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor passed the direction while rejecting Punjab government and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL)'s appeals challenging a single-judge verdict.

The single-judge had on April 8 directed the State and PSPCL to release till June 30 all up-to-date pending installments of DA or Dearness Relief (DR) to all its employees and pensioners at the same rates as has been paid to the members of the All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) serving within Punjab.

Today, the Division Bench said the payment be done within a fortnight and in case of default, the unpaid amounts shall carry simple interest of 6 percent per annum.

The Court said a compliance report be filed before end of this month.

"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," the Bench ordered.

In 2021, Punjab government had approved the recommendation of the 6th Pay Commission to grant DA/DR to the State employees on the Central Government pattern.

However, despite the approval, it failed to release the amounts.

Consequently, a number of petition were filed to seek release of the dues. The Court was told employees and pensioners of the State were being paid 16% less DA than All India Service Officers.

In response, Punjab government cited financial constraints. It also referred to a liquidation plan under which the payment of pension was staggered based on the age of pensioners. The same had also been adopted by the PSPCL for its pensioners.

In April, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar ruled that this plan was violative of Article 14 as it created an impermissible differentiation within a homogeneous class of pensioners.

The judge then directed the PSPCL to release the arrears of revised pension/family pension (including DR arrears) as per 6th Punjab Pay Commission to all their pensioners and family pensioners.

The State government and PSPCL challenged the judgment. Today, the appeals were dismissed.