Bengal top officials served contempt notice over DA non-compliance despite SC order

The Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary of West Bengal have been served a legal notice for not complying with a Supreme Court order that directed the state government to pay 25% of the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) to its employees within four weeks. The notice has been issued by the Confederation of State Government Employees, which has accused the government of contempt of court.

On May 16, the Supreme Court had directed the West Bengal government to release 25% of the total outstanding DA to its employees. The order was passed by a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Karol. During the hearing, the state government, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, had informed the court that it was not in a position to pay 50% of the dues, citing financial constraints. The court then ordered a partial payment of 25% instead.

According to the data submitted by the state government to the court, the 25% DA arrears amount to approximately ₹10,400 crore. Despite the four-week deadline provided by the court, no action was taken by the state government to disburse the amount. Following this, Malay Mukherjee, the main petitioner in the case, issued a legal notice to the Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary through his lawyer Firdaus Shamim via email.

The DA issue in West Bengal has been under dispute since 2017. On September 7 of that year, the Chief Minister had announced a 15% hike in DA. However, disagreements continued. On August 31, 2018, the Calcutta High Court ruled that DA is a right of employees and directed the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) to decide within two months how it should be given. SAT, in its order dated July 26, 2019, instructed the state government to clear DA dues within a year.

The state government filed a review petition in SAT in October 2019, which was dismissed on July 8, 2020. The matter was later taken to the Calcutta High Court, where a division bench again directed the government to pay DA. The state challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which, after hearing all sides, ordered payment of 25% of the pending DA. With the deadline now over and no payment made, the contempt notice has been issued to top officials of the state administration.