NEW DELHI, Nov 5 — The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the criminal contempt proceedings initiated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court against Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and other officers over the non-implementation of the High Court's ruling on payment of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) to state employees and pensioners, Bar and Bench reported. A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan stayed further proceedings in the criminal contempt case before the High Court until further orders.

Source: Bar and Bench

What the court ordered on Thursday

"We have perused the impugned order dated 12/10/2026 and 30/10/2026. In the subsequent order we note that CS Punjab has been directed to be present in person today in the high court in criminal contempt initiated by the respondents herein. We have also been apprised on the background of the dispute between the parties leading to filing of criminal contempt proceedings. Stay in further proceedings in the criminal contempt until further orders," the bench directed, Bar and Bench reported. The Court also directed that no coercive steps shall be taken in the civil contempt case. Sinha had been directed to appear in person before the High Court on Thursday; the High Court adjourned its criminal contempt matter the same day after it was informed that the Supreme Court was hearing the State's challenge.

Source: Bar and Bench

"You got a breather" — a payment plan is now due

Granting the relief, the Court directed the Punjab government to come up with a plan on disbursal of the pending amounts on or before March 2027, noting that the present DA is at the rate of 53 percent. "You got a breather. Come up with a positive response. How much will you release," the Court said, adjourning the matter to December. During the hearing, the bench also made remarks questioning the accountability of government servants, observing that government employees are a privileged class compared with workers in the unorganised and corporate sectors — remarks made in court during the hearing, as reported by Bar and Bench.

Source: Bar and Bench

How the case reached the Supreme Court

On August 3, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the State to release all up-to-date pending instalments of DA/DR to all its employees and pensioners at the same rates as paid to All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers serving within Punjab; the judgment also barred the government from resorting to unproductive expenditure such as large-scale advertising campaigns until the dues are paid. The State challenged that judgment in the Supreme Court. When the order was not implemented, civil and criminal contempt proceedings followed in the High Court. On October 12, the High Court issued notice in the criminal contempt case after taking note of an alleged misstatement about the status of the State's Supreme Court appeal and of a Finance Secretary instruction asking department heads not to implement the August 3 ruling — allegations recorded at the notice stage, not findings of contempt. The State, in its Supreme Court challenge, submitted that no case of criminal contempt was made out and pointed to a liquidation plan under which, it said, about Rs 5,000 crore had already been disbursed, Law Beat reported.

Source: Bar and Bench / Law Beat

Thursday's stay is the latest turn in the DA arrears case in which the High Court had earlier issued a contempt notice to the Chief Secretary and imposed Rs 1 lakh costs over the unpaid dues. Read the earlier contempt-notice story

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh represented the State of Punjab and its officers in the Supreme Court, with Additional Advocate Generals Vivek Jain, Rajat Bharadwaj and Mohd Irshad and advocate Karan Sharma. Senior Advocates PS Patwalia and Shadan Farasat appeared for the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), whose employees and pensioners are also covered by the DA/DR directions.

Source: Bar and Bench