The Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing the Bengal government’s appeal that challenged the initiation of contempt proceedings in Calcutta High Court
by state employees challenging the delay or denial in payment of the dearness allowance (DA).

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra, which held the hearing on Tuesday, will continue on Wednesday.

On June 27, citing financial constraints, the Bengal government pleaded the Supreme Court for a “six-month” extension of the deadline fixed by the apex court on May 16 for the state to pay “25 per cent of dearness allowance within three months” to the government employees.

The May 16 order was a major blow to the Mamata Banerjee dispensation that tried to stall the directive by pleading that it would be “back breaking for the state finances”.

An earlier bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta had passed the interim order, bringing a temporary halt to the wait of the employees who endured 18 adjournments on the issue after the Mamata government filed an appeal in 2022 challenging the contempt proceedings initiated against it.

The Confederation of State Government Employees Union, the Karmachari Parishad, and the Unity Forum were the three petitioners in the high court.

In 2022, the high court directed the state to pay DA to its employees on a par with the central government staff, who receive 55 per cent DA.

As the state vacillated in complying with the directive, the aggrieved employees had moved a contempt petition before the high court, following which the Bengal government had filed the present appeal.