“There is no legal obligation on state governments to automatically adopt the rates of DA as fixed by the central government. Each state is entitled to assess its own financial position and determine appropriate rates accordingly,” the bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra said. Further, it said the state employees were not entitled to DA payment twice a year as demanded by them, since Bengal’s Revision of Pay and Allowances Rules “nowhere provide that DA will be or can be paid twice a year”. How that change is to be carried out is through AICPI (All India Consumer Price Index),” it said. It brushed aside the state government plea that implementing the high court directive would cripple the exchequer.

Source: The Telegraph February 06, 2026 20:41 UTC