DA Case West Bengal: New Information in State’s Written Submission

DA Case West Bengal: The West Bengal government has finally submitted its written submission regarding the DA case to the Supreme Court. This submission is 112 pages long, and in it, the state government has clarified its stance on DA. Let’s take a look at the main content of this submission and what new information the state government has provided.

The State Government’s Main Arguments

In its submission, the state government has primarily emphasized a few points:

• States are not obligated to pay DA at central rates: According to the state, every state in the country is not bound to pay Dearness Allowance at the central government’s rate. They have cited various Supreme Court judgments on this matter.
• Inflation Adjustment: The state has also presented its arguments regarding neutralizing 100 percent inflation.
• Interpretation of Tribunal and High Court verdicts: The state government has said that neither the State Administrative Tribunal nor the Calcutta High Court directly ordered the state to pay DA at the central rate.
• Examples of other states: The state government has submitted a list showing that about 50 percent of the states in the country do not follow the central rate. Their argument is that if the Supreme Court orders payment of DA at the central rate, it will have a direct impact on those states.

Other Important Points

Several other important points have also been mentioned in the submission:

• ROPA Rules: Issues like DA calculation and pay fixation according to the ROPA (Revision of Pay and Allowances) Rules have also been highlighted.
• Comparison of DA rates of various states: A comparative chart has been provided, comparing the DA rates of West Bengal with other states.
• Legal arguments: The state’s lawyers have presented counter-arguments to the statements made by the lawyers of the petitioning organizations.

Next Steps

Following this written submission by the state government, the petitioner organizations will submit their counter-submissions, for which they will have one week. The Sangrami Joutha Mancha has already submitted its submission. The Supreme Court will deliver the final verdict in this case only after submissions from all parties are filed.

This written submission is a crucial step in the DA case. Now, it remains to be seen what the petitioner organizations say in response and what verdict the Supreme Court ultimately delivers. Lakhs of government employees in West Bengal are awaiting this judgment.