Harpal Cheema on Employees’ DA: ‘Next decision will be taken after legal review’; Watch Video
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, August 4, 2026: Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday said the state government would take its next decision on employees’ pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears only after conducting a detailed legal and constitutional review of the recent Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment.
Addressing a press conference, Cheema said the Punjab Government remained committed to safeguarding the legitimate and constitutional rights of government employees and pensioners. He added that the government had already made substantial payments towards pending arrears and was implementing a liquidation plan approved by the High Court.
According to the Finance Minister, the total outstanding liability stands at ₹14,191 crore, of which around ₹6,000 crore has already been paid to employees and pensioners. He said the government had cleared dues of retired employees and pensioners above the age of 75–85 years in previous years and had also started making payments to pensioners from April 2026.
Commenting on the recent High Court ruling concerning DA dues during the tenure of the present government, Cheema said the judgment of a single judge had set aside a liquidation plan that had earlier been accepted by a Division Bench.
He said the government found the development surprising and believed that several important legal aspects had not been adequately considered. Cheema also referred to a 2005 Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court, which, he claimed, had not been taken into account while interpreting the issue under Article 14 of the Constitution.
The Finance Minister further said Punjab government employees receive some of the highest basic pay scales among state employees in the country. Comparing the salaries of Punjab government employees with those of their counterparts under the Central Government, Cheema claimed that the monthly salary of a clerk or constable in Punjab, after including the prevailing DA, was ₹54,812, compared with ₹36,960 under the Central Government.
He said Punjab employees were receiving approximately ₹17,852 more than their Central Government counterparts under the existing pay structure.
Cheema reiterated the government’s argument that a higher Central Government-style DA and Punjab’s higher state pay scales could not be implemented simultaneously. He said that if the state were to adopt the Central Government’s DA pattern, its pay scales would also have to be aligned with the Central Government structure.
The Finance Minister added that the Punjab Government had decided in 2020 to implement the Central Pay Commission structure for newly recruited employees. He said all new government employees were now being recruited under the Central Pay Commission framework.
Cheema said the government respected the judiciary but believed that certain important facts and interpretations of earlier judgments had not been sufficiently considered in the latest ruling.
He added that the government’s legal teams were examining the judgment in detail and that the next course of action would be decided only after obtaining legal and constitutional advice.
“The Punjab Government is fully committed to providing employees with their legitimate and constitutional rights,” Cheema said.