The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday stayed the freezing of Dearness Allowance (DA) of workmen of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
The employees' union of these organisations have challenged the communication issued by the organisations in November stating that DA due from July 1, 2020 onwards and DA payable between January 1, 2021 and April 1, 2021 will be under freeze.
The petitioners contended that if DA is frozen, there will be a drop in their wages as the increase in the cost of living is not neutralised.
The petitions also contended that unilateral retrospective freezing of DA is illegal as it affects their rights and also amounts to deprivation. The petitioners contended that the communication was as per the direction issued by the central government through an office memorandum issued on November 19.
Justice R Devdas granted interim relief after hearing the submissions made by the petitioners.
Meanwhile, the government informed the court that the central government had already clarified that freezing of DA is only applicable to executives and non-unionised supervisors in central public sector undertakings and not applicable to non-executives and workmen.
(Published 22 December 2020, 19:55 IST)
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