State Chief Secretary KAP Sinha has got a big relief from the Supreme Court in the matter related to the payment of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) of Punjab government employees and pensioners. The Supreme Court has put an interim stay on the proceedings of Criminal Contempt of Court initiated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan's bench has issued an order in this matter on Thursday. The High Court had directed the Chief Secretary to appear personally if the state government did not follow its order. The Supreme Court has currently stopped further action in the contempt case. However, the court clarified that other proceedings related to the case may continue further.
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What is the whole matter?
In fact, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its order on August 3, had directed the Punjab government to pay all the pending installments of DA and DR of government employees and pensioners. The High Court had said that dearness allowance to employees and pensioners should be paid at the same rates as IAS, IPS and IFS officers posted in Punjab.
Along with this, the state government and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) were ordered to release the outstanding amount within two weeks. The court had also said that 6 percent annual interest would be given on delayed payment. When payment was not made within the stipulated time, the employees and pensioners approached the High Court and accused them of ignoring the order.
Notice was sent to the Chief Secretary
After this, on October 12, the High Court had issued a notice to Chief Secretary KAP Sinha asking why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. Later, through an order dated October 13, he was asked to appear in court in person on November 5. The High Court had also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for not filing the reply on behalf of the government. The court had also said that merely filing an appeal in the Supreme Court does not end the responsibility to follow the order of the High Court. Unless the higher court stays the order or changes it, it is necessary to follow it.
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What happened in the Supreme Court?
During the hearing in the Supreme Court, senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the state government, argued that criminal contempt action is being taken against the Chief Secretary in a case which has already been disposed of. At the same time, advocate Ravi Sharma, on behalf of petitioner Manjeet Singh Randhawa, alleged that the Chief Secretary had sent letters to the departments instructing them not to follow the court orders.
On this, the Supreme Court bench raised the question whether such an instruction given by the Chief Secretary to the departments as the state government is preparing to approach the Supreme Court, can in itself be considered as criminal contempt? The bench said that it is not appropriate to proceed with criminal contempt proceedings on the basis of departmental communication alone. The court also questioned the need to send the Chief Secretary to jail and put a stay on the proceedings for the time being.