Respondents received two months to verify and disburse arrears, with liberty to revive proceedings upon default.

The petitioners, serving or formerly serving employees/teachers under the Chandigarh Administration, instituted Contempt Petition No. 106/2026 in connection with OA No. 1277/2018, alleging non-compliance with the directions issued in the original application.

During the contempt proceedings, the respondents produced an order dated 17 August 2026 granting permission to all Principals/Heads to disburse arrears payable to the petitioners.

The respondents nevertheless sought additional time for authentication and verification of the payment calculations by the concerned Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs).

Whether the steps taken by the respondents, including permission for disbursement of arrears and verification by the concerned DDOs, constituted sufficient progress towards compliance with the Tribunal’s earlier directions.

Whether the respondents should be granted further time to complete verification and disbursement of the arrears, and whether the contempt petition should remain pending.

The Tribunal applied the principle that contempt proceedings are concerned with securing compliance with judicial directions and that, where the alleged contemnors demonstrate bona fide and substantive steps towards compliance, reasonable further time may be granted in the interests of justice.

The Tribunal also applied the procedural principle that a contempt petition may be closed and the respondents discharged where compliance is being effectuated, while reserving liberty to the aggrieved parties to seek revival in the event of non-compliance.

The Tribunal considered the respondents’ production of the order dated 17 August 2026, which authorised the Principals/Heads to disburse the petitioners’ arrears, as a substantive step towards compliance.

Since only authentication and verification of the payment calculations by the concerned DDOs remained, the Tribunal found the respondents’ request for additional time reasonable. It accordingly granted two months for completion of verification and disbursement, with a direction to file a compliance report thereafter.

It granted the respondents two months to complete verification and disbursement of the arrears and directed them to file a compliance report in the Registry after completion of the process.

The contempt petition was closed and the respondents were discharged from the notices issued therein. The petitioners were granted liberty to seek revival of the contempt petition in case of default.