Chandigarh, September 8:- Less than two hours after taking oath as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Ashwini Kumar Mishra on Monday made his firm stance clear while hearing the important Dearness Allowance (DA) case. He made it clear that the court would not bow to any criticism or pressure and would function within the scope of its oath to the rule of law and the Constitution.
The statement came when a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor strongly objected to the state counsel speaking in a loud voice during the hearing of petitions related to compliance with court orders concerning the payment of outstanding DA/DR to employees and pensioners of the Punjab government.
Chief Justice Mishra said, “This court will function under the rule of law and this institution will not bow to any kind of tactics. Therefore, we will proceed strictly according to law. We have taken an oath to the Constitution and we know how to uphold and protect our oath.”
The Bench also made it clear that it would not be influenced by the arguments of either side. Justice Mishra said, “No comments should be made by either side! You may have a lot to say or do, but we will proceed according to law. We have taken an oath to the Constitution.”
These observations came during the hearing of petitions arising from the Bench’s August order, which directed Punjab to release all pending instalments of DA/DR to its employees and pensioners by August 31 and file a compliance affidavit. The court had also ordered that until the arrears were cleared, the state government should not incur unproductive expenditure such as advertising campaigns in print or on social media.
The order was later challenged by the state government in the Supreme Court. Senior advocate Sanjay Kaushal, appearing for one of the petitioners, said that Punjab had filed its challenge after August 31 and that the defects pointed out by the Supreme Court Registry were yet to be removed.
Kaushal also stated that the state government was still issuing advertisements in newspapers and also referred to the release of crores of rupees for women on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
Senior advocate Chetan Mittal, appearing for another petitioner, said that the state government had still not filed the compliance affidavit directed by the High Court. However, the Bench said it would hear the petitions only after examining the case file. The matter is now likely to come up for further hearing on Thursday. The statement made on the very day of his oath-taking has given an early indication of the kind of institutional stance Chief Justice Mishra intends to adopt in the High Court.