• Source:JND
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In a major relief for the West Bengal state government employees, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the state government to pay 25 per cent Dearness Allowance within three months. The order comes after the matter was postponed 18 times.

An interim order related to the case was issued by a division bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta. The court has posted the matter for the next hearing in August.

What is the case?

Reportedly, the dispute started with a petition filed by a section of the government employees in the Calcutta High Court, seeking DA parity with that of central government employees.

As the case went on for years, the government, although it has increased DA on a few occasions it still lagged behind the central rate by 37 per cent.

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In May 2022, the Calcutta HC directed the state to pay the DA at the central rate, marking a victory for the petitioners. However, the West Bengal government challenged the Calcutta HC decision in the Supreme Court. The government filed an appeal in November 2022.

Judgement after 18 postponements

In a time frame of two years and four months, the matter saw 17 postponements. Earlier on Wednesday, the matter was postponed again for the 18th time.

Initially, the case was heard in the court of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, but he retired, and the case was reassigned to the current bench. On Wednesday, the government counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi sought postponement due to his hearing in another case. The postponement was granted and the matter was listed for Friday.

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