Chandigarh-Instead of complying with the 15-day deadline fixed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 3 for clearing the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) dues of government employees and pensioners, which ends today, August 18, the Punjab Government led by the AAP is now openly defying the Punjab & Haryana High Court by attempting to put an administrative roadblock in the way of a judicial order instead of ensuring its immediate and unconditional compliance in the DA case, said Sardar Kewal Singh Dhillon, State President, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Punjab.
Detailing this, Dhillon said, “The Finance Department’s letter dated August 17, 2026, directing all Administrative Departments not to implement orders arising from the High Court’s judgment in Civil Writ Petition No. 7291 of 2026 without prior concurrence of the Finance Department, amounts to introducing a condition that does not form part of the Court’s judicial mandate.”
He further added that such an administrative instruction cannot override, dilute, delay or postpone a command issued by a constitutional court. The Executive cannot sit in appeal over a judicial direction or create an additional layer of administrative approval before complying with it.
More importantly, where the Court has directed “scrupulous compliance”, there is no scope for the government to reconsider, qualify or selectively implement the judicial mandate through an internal departmental circular.
Sardar Dhillon said, This non-compliance makes it crystal clear that the AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is not only anti-employee and anti-pensioner, but also has scant regard for the orders of the Hon’ble High Court.
Sardar Dhillon said, “Mr. Bhagwant Mann and Mr. Harpal Cheema must understand that government employees are not asking for a favour, subsidy or political gift. They are demanding money that is legally and legitimately due to them.”
“The question is simple: if the Punjab Government can spend money on publicity, advertisements and political branding, why can it not pay the DA and DA arrears that employees have already earned?” Sardar Dhillon asked.
“This is the real face of the AAP government—promises before elections, publicity after elections and excuses when it comes to paying the people of Punjab. The government cannot hide behind financial constraints to deny employees and pensioners their legitimate dues.”
“The Punjab Government must stop treating court orders as political suggestions. A court order is not optional. The government must obey it—fully, immediately and in letter and spirit.”