After Supreme Court Verdict on West Bengal DA Arrears, Tripura Fixed-Pay Employees Hope for Similar Justice
By Our Correspondent
Agartala, February 5, 2026
The Supreme Court’s landmark verdict today directing the West Bengal government to pay long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to its employees has generated fresh optimism among thousands of fixed-pay government employees in Tripura who are fighting a similar legal battle.
The apex court upheld the 2022 Calcutta High Court order asking the West Bengal government to pay DA at par with central government employees and to release arrears pending since July 2009. The judgment, delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, categorically stated that state governments cannot deny legitimate financial benefits to their employees on arbitrary or unjustified grounds.
This significant ruling has drawn immediate attention in Tripura, where a large number of government employees were recruited under a controversial fixed-pay system for several years. These employees have long alleged that the policy was discriminatory and exploitative.
On January 8, 2026, the Tripura High Court delivered a historic verdict striking down the state’s fixed-pay recruitment policy. The court declared the system unconstitutional and ordered that employees appointed on fixed pay must be granted regular pay scales from their date of joining. It further directed the state government to release arrears for the previous three years along with 9 percent interest within a period of three months.
However, the Tripura government has decided to challenge this judgment in the Supreme Court, citing the enormous financial implications of implementing the High Court order. According to official estimates, regularizing thousands of fixed-pay employees and clearing arrears would impose a heavy burden on the state exchequer.
Despite the government’s move to approach the apex court, fixed-pay employees in Tripura believe that today’s Supreme Court ruling in the West Bengal DA case has significantly strengthened their position. Employee organizations feel that the latest judgment clearly establishes the principle that governments cannot evade their constitutional obligations toward employees.
“Today’s verdict proves that no state government can deprive its employees of rightful benefits in an arbitrary manner. We are confident that the Supreme Court will take the same stand in the Tripura case,” said a senior leader of a government employees’ association.
At present, central government employees receive 60 percent DA, while several states lag far behind. West Bengal currently provides only 18 percent DA, Kerala 22 percent and Tripura 36 percent. This wide disparity has been a major source of resentment among state government employees.
The Supreme Court’s strong observations in the West Bengal case have therefore given renewed hope to thousands of teachers, Group C and Group D employees in Tripura who were appointed under the fixed-pay system since 2001. They now expect that judicial intervention will ultimately ensure justice and financial parity.
As the Tripura government prepares to contest the High Court order in the Supreme Court, employees remain hopeful that the principle laid down in today’s judgment will play a decisive role. For them, the message from the apex court is clear, unconstitutional deprivation of government employees cannot be allowed to continue.
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