DA news: Punjab says paying ₹14,191 crore dues in 14 days ‘constitutionally impossible’, challenges HC order
The Punjab government has approached the Supreme Court, challenging a High Court order directing it to clear all pending dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) dues owed to state employees and pensioners within a fortnight. The state has argued that releasing arrears of around ₹14,191 crore within such a short timeframe is constitutionally impossible.
The special petition, filed by the additional chief secretary of the finance department, challenges the 3 August judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court had directed the state to pay the pending dues at rates applicable to All India Services officers posted in Punjab.
“Compliance is not merely difficult; it is constitutionally impossible in the time allowed. According to Article 266(3), no money may be appropriated from the consolidated fund of a state except in the manner provided by the Constitution, and that manner is Articles 202 to 206,” the plea said.
The High Court had also ordered the state to pay 6 per cent simple interest if it failed to comply and restrained it from undertaking “unproductive” expenditure until the outstanding dues were settled.
State disputes Centre-linked DA benchmark
In its Supreme Court petition, the Punjab government argued that its service rules do not require the state to pay DA to its employees at the rate announced by the Centre for its employees.
It said the Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2021, do not specify any particular index, formula, rate or periodicity for calculating DA. The decision on these aspects, it said, remains within the state government’s discretion.
Punjab has also questioned the High Court’s reliance on the DA paid to All India Services officers as a benchmark for determining the entitlement of state employees.
The state contended that All India Services officers receive DA at Central rates because their service conditions are governed by Union law. Punjab, therefore, has no authority to independently determine its service conditions.
The petition further said the state’s existing DA rate of 42 per cent already provides higher aggregate monthly emoluments than those applicable to corresponding Central categories in five of the seven representative categories cited by the government.
“In five of the seven categories, the Punjab employee already draws more at the existing 42 per cent by between ₹1,832 and ₹17,852 a month; in the clerk and constable cadres, Punjab’s basic pay alone, ₹38,600, exceeds the entire Central aggregate of basic pay and DA at 60 per cent, namely ₹36,960,” the plea said.
“The only two categories presently short, superintendent by ₹5,676 and police inspector by ₹7,372, which the petitioner placed on record against its own interest, themselves move into surplus of ₹4,800 and ₹2,240,” it added.
Government cites constitutional process for payment
The state also argued that the High Court’s direction to release the entire admitted arrears within 14 days cannot be implemented without following the constitutional procedure governing withdrawals from the state’s Consolidated Fund.
According to the government, the Punjab Cabinet approved a liquidation plan in February 2025 under which arrears amounting to around ₹14,191 crore would be cleared in stages over five financial years.
Punjab contests restriction on expenditure
The government has separately challenged the High Court’s direction preventing it from incurring “unproductive” expenditure until the dues are cleared. It argued that no such expenditure had been specifically pleaded or supported by evidence before the court.
The Punjab government has urged the Supreme Court to set aside the High Court’s ruling and restore its discretion to determine the DA rate applicable to state employees, as well as the manner and timeline for payment of the pending arrears.
