The Punjab ans Haryana high court issued a notice on Tuesday to Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha to ask him about the “prima facie false statement” that he made in a case pertaining to the pending dearness allowance of employees and pensioners and why the proceedings should not be initiated for the criminal contempt against the statement.The bench of chief justice Ashwani Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor wanted him to be present on the next hearing date, which is on Friday.The development in the same came after following the report given by the high court registry from the supreme court registry regarding the state government’s appeal status, according to the PTI report.The defects in the Punjab government’s appeal in the supreme court have not been removed that shows the contradiction in the stand of the Punjab CS that defects in its appeal have been cured.The hight court issued a notice to the Punjab chief secretary, petitioner’s counsel Sunny singla stated. He further asked why the proceedings of criminal contempt should not be initiated against him for making the “false statement.”The Punjab and Haryana High Court has taken note of a report indicating that defects in the Punjab government’s appeal before the Supreme Court are yet to be rectified, advocate Singla said.The development came during the hearing of petitions alleging non-compliance with the high court’s August 3 order directing the Punjab government to clear pending dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) dues of state employees and pensioners. The payments were to be made at rates applicable to All India Services officers, including IAS, IPS and IFS officers serving in the state, in line with the Central government pattern.On Monday, the high court had asked its registry to obtain an immediate status report from the Supreme Court on the state government’s appeal.Punjab had approached the Supreme Court on September 1 by filing a special leave petition against the high court’s order. The state argued that clearing arrears of around Rs 14,191 crore within the stipulated period was constitutionally impossible.The high court had on Monday criticised the state government for allegedly “playing hide and seek” with the court. It also questioned the government’s claim that the defects in its Supreme Court appeal had already been removed.“We are at our wits’ end to comprehend as to what is actually intended by the State of Punjab by playing hide and seek with the court. If the appeal had already been filed on September 1 before the Supreme Court, it could have been got heard by now. It appears that the attempt is only to buy time in the garb of pursuing a legal remedy before the Supreme Court,” the court had observed.The state counsel had maintained that the defects had been cured and that the appeal was in order. The petitioners, however, strongly disputed the submission.In its August 3 order, the high court had directed the Punjab government to pay all pending instalments of DA to its employees and pensioners within two weeks.
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The court had also restrained the state from undertaking what it termed unproductive expenditure, including large-scale advertising campaigns in print and on social media, until the dues were cleared. It said such expenditure could not justify withholding payments legally owed to government employees and pensioners.The court had further ordered that any amount remaining unpaid beyond the stipulated period would attract simple interest at 6 per cent per annum.The petitioners subsequently approached the high court, alleging that the state government had failed to comply with the August 3 directions.At the previous hearing on September 10, the high court had observed that although Punjab had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, defects in the petition had not been removed.
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