Supreme Court Seeks Details of West Bengal Employees Claiming Pending DA Arrears

MP, August 18, 2026, Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reportedly sought details of West Bengal government employees who claim they are yet to receive arrears of dearness allowance (DA), after the state told the court that around 65 per cent of the dues had already been paid.

A Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra was hearing the long-running DA dispute.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, said payments worth more than Rs 7,700 crore had been made so far and the remaining dues were being processed.

Representing employees, advocates Karuna Nundy and Firdous Shamim disputed the state's claim, submitting that a section of employees had still not received their arrears.

They argued that the Supreme Court's earlier ruling required the state to pay the dues to all eligible employees.

The Bench directed the employees' side to submit the names of those who maintain that they have not been paid.

The matter will come up again on Wednesday.

The dispute follows the Supreme Court's direction that the state clear the employees' outstanding DA.

It had ordered 25 per cent of the arrears to be paid immediately, while the remaining amount was to be cleared in phases, with a monitoring committee overseeing the process.