Hire Government Servants on Contract to Make Them Accountable, Says Justice Nagarathna in Punjab DA Case

Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna has said government employees form a “privileged class” and that future recruitment should be on a contract basis so that they become answerable for their work. She made the remarks while hearing a dispute over unpaid dearness allowance (DA) to Punjab government employees.

The case

A bench of Justice Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan was hearing the State of Punjab’s challenge in a matter arising from employees’ claims against the state (Additional Chief Secretary v. Manjeet Singh Randhawa, SLP(C) No. 38661/2026, and connected cases). Before the High Court, Punjab had said it lacked the funds to make the payments; the High Court responded by pointing to the state’s spending on freebies and welfare schemes.

The employees made the same argument in the Supreme Court. Justice Nagarathna said the two could not be compared: the schemes are meant for marginalised sections, while government employees already enjoy special benefits and secure jobs.

Sharp words on accountability

The judge questioned the productivity of government offices, remarking that staff recruited for the High Court or district courts often move to the Secretariat, where, she said, the daily workload amounted to typing three pages. She went on to speak of red tape everywhere and asked where the accountability of a government servant lay, noting that pensions continue to be paid to families even after an employee dies.

When Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the employees, said many government servants work hard and not all should be painted with the same brush, the judge replied that if they were truly sincere, the volume of litigation in the country would fall. Kamat answered that the state must act as a model employer.

Contempt against Chief Secretary stayed

The bench stayed the contempt proceedings that had been started against Punjab’s Chief Secretary over the non-payment, saying it could not approve of such “arm-twisting” and that the Chief Secretary could not be hauled up in this way.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appeared for the state, Senior Advocates PS Patwalia and Shadan Farasat for the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd, and Devadatt Kamat with Advocate Ravi Sharma for the employees.

— Legal Desk

Featured image: Supreme Court of India.jpg by Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

• LiveLaw: Govt servants getting lifelong pension, but where is their accountability? Justice BV Nagarathna