Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday issued a formal criminal contempt notice to the Punjab government over the non-payment of pending dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) arrears to around 7.5 lakh government employees and pensioners.
A division bench comprising Justices Vinod S. Bhardwaj and Ravinder Malik took a strict view of the matter, noting that more than two months had passed since directions were issued for the submission of a compliance report on earlier court orders.
The bench observed that the earlier decision to refer the matter to the contempt bench indicated that the government’s affidavits and supporting documents had undergone a preliminary examination.
To assist the court in the proceedings, senior advocate R.S. Cheema has been appointed amicus curiae, or friend of the court.
The High Court directed the Punjab government to file its response by October 27. The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 30.
The proceedings concern the state government’s compliance with court directions regarding the payment of outstanding DA and DR dues to employees and pensioners.
