The Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a show-cause notice to the state Chief Secretary on Tuesday, threatening criminal contempt proceedings over the government's failure to pay long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears. The Chief Secretary appeared personally before the bench after missing the August 31 deadline to submit a compliance report.
The court’s scrutiny of the affidavit filed the previous day revealed a critical flaw: the vakalatnama for the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed in the Supreme Court was not even signed. Justice (name not provided in source, refer to generic 'The bench') noted that this defective SLP appeared to be a calculated tactic to delay compliance rather than a genuine legal move. The bench questioned the Chief Secretary directly on this omission.
The employees' counsel argued that the government had neither released the dues nor filed the required compliance report, violating the court's August 3 directions. In response, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia criticized the Bhagwant Mann government, stating that the "veil of falsehood was lifted" by the court's findings. "The Bhagwant Mann government has stooped to such questionable tactics to avoid paying DA to its employees!" Majithia said.
The matter is now listed for further hearing on October 9, where the Chief Secretary must explain why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. This development places the Punjab administration under renewed judicial pressure regarding the financial dues of state employees and pensioners.