Dearness Allowance: High court passed an interim order, staying freezing of DA
BENGALURU: The high court passed an interim order on Tuesday, staying the freezing of dearness allowance of workmen employed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited.
Justice R Devdas passed the order after hearing petitions filed by their employees/workers union.
The court was told that in a similar matter, the central government had already clarified that freezing of DA is only applicable for executives and non-unionised supervisors in central public sector undertakings, and not for non-executives and workmen.
Passing the interim order after hearing the petitions filed by Bharat Electronics Workersโ Union and HAL Employees’ Association, questioning the office memorandum dated November 19, 2020, Justice R Devdas directed both BEL and HAL to ensure payment of DA with effect from October 1, 2020, and also issued notice to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, BEL and HAL.
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Arguing on behalf of Bharat Electronics Workersโ Union and HAL Employeesโ Association, senior counsel Subbarao argued that DA should be paid to workmen as per the All India Consumer Price Index once in three months, depending on the cost of living.
However, a memorandum was issued by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India, freezing DA for non-unionised supervisors and executives, in view of the crisis arising out of Covid-19, from October 1, 2020.
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