Chandigarh, Nov. 4 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) on Tuesday issued a fresh contempt notice to the Punjab chief secretary over the non-compliance with an order regarding the release of dearness allowance (DA), estimated at Rs.37,000 crore by the state government, to its employees and pensioners. The contempt proceedings against the chief secretary stem from the HC's August 3 ruling, which ordered the state to release the pending DA installments to employees and pensioners on par with the central government rates paid to All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS) officers within a fortnight. The court also barred the state from indulging in "unproductive expenditure", such as large-scale print or social media advertisement campaigns, until all dues were settled, and directed the chief secretary to file a compliance affidavit by August 31. The government failed to meet the deadline and filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on September 1. The apex court is yet to hear the matter as the state government failed to clear the defects flagged by the top court's registry. This contempt petition was filed on August 21 by employees and pensioners after the government failed to adhere to the DA release deadline of August 18. On September 27, the court fined the chief secretary Rs.1 lakh and summoned him for Tuesday's hearing. The second contempt proceeding, criminal in nature, against KAP Sinha was initiated by a different bench over his claim that after curing all defects, a fresh appeal had been filed, a statement proved wrong by records of the Supreme Court registry. During Tuesday's hearing, the government's affidavit mentioned that the total pending liability of the claims is Rs.32,418 crore, and in addition, payment of DA at central government rates would entail another Rs.4,712 crore per year. Appearing for the state government, senior advocate Vikas Singh submitted that the SC registry's objections had been removed. According to Singh, the HC order stipulated that if DA was not released, the unpaid amount would carry simple interest of 6%. "Once the order itself provides for the consequence of non-payment within the stipulated period, then a mere failure to release the amounts within the prescribed period would not constitute wilful disobedience," he submitted. On the other hand, the petitioners' counsel submitted that the mere filing or pendency of an appeal, in the absence of any order staying the operation of the HC order, cannot be a justification for non-compliance. Rejecting the state's argument, the court observed that the provision for the payment of interest was intended to operate as a compensatory measure for employees and pensioners, and not as an alternative mode of compliance available to the state. "Merely pursuing the remedy of a special leave petition, without obtaining any order staying the operation of the judgment, cannot furnish a justification for continued non-compliance. Thus, the conduct of the State of Punjab as well as the PSPCL, particularly in view of the sufficient opportunities already afforded to them, prima facie reflects willful disobedience of the specific and binding directions issued by the Hon'ble Division Bench vide order dated August 3, 2026, which cannot be countenanced in law," the bench of justice Harsh Bunger observed, summoning the chief secretary for November 17 and asking him to file a response as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar-Surjit) president Giani Harpreet Singh accused the state government of making the chief secretary a "scapegoat". In a statement, he said the government was allowing the state's top bureaucrat to facecontempt proceedings over the non-payment of employees' dues, while remaining a "mute spectator". He termed the situation embarrassing for the state....