On the day he took oath as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra Monday asserted that the HC would be guided by the rule of law and its oath to the Constitution, saying the institution would not be “browbeaten by any kind of tactics”.The oral observations came during the hearing of an application seeking action against officials for alleged willful disobedience and non-compliance with the HC’s August 3 order directing the Punjab government to release pending Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief (DA/DR) instalments and arrears to its employees and pensioners.“This court would be governed by the rule of law and this institution will not be browbeaten by any kind of tactics. So therefore, we will go strictly as per the law. We have taken the oath of the Constitution and we know how to preserve our oath and defend it…” Chief Justice Mishra said.Read | AAP government vs judiciary: How Punjab’s policies, finances faced court scrutinyThe Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor also made it clear that it would not be influenced by submissions from either side.“Either side, don’t comment! You may have a lot of things to say or do, we will go by law. We have taken the oath of the Constitution,” Justice Mishra observed.The Bench was hearing an application filed in LPA by Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab versus Nirmal Singh Dhanoa and others.The applicants have also sought appropriate action against those allegedly attempting to scandalise and politicise, the August 3 order and thereby, according to the application, attempting to lower the authority of the HC.Story continues below this adDuring Monday’s hearing, counsel for the applicants submitted that the state was not complying with the directions regarding release of DA/DR and arrears. It was further submitted that despite the court’s direction against any unproductive expenditures such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media until the dues were cleared, the state government issued full-page advertisements on September 1.Counsel for the applicants alleged that the state government had spent Rs 340 crore on full-page advertisements issued on September 1, despite the court’s direction against any unproductive expenditures such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media, until the DA/DR dues were cleared.At the outset, the Bench said it had not gone through the petition and indicated that the matter would be heard on September 10.State counsel submitted that the application was not maintainable as the petitioner had already filed a contempt petition. He also submitted that the State government had already filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court against the August 3 judgment.Story continues below this adCounsel for the applicants, however, submitted that the state was adopting tactics to delay the matter, alleging that the SLP was lying in the objection/defective list and that the State had not removed the objections.State counsel responded that the SLP had been filed and was in the defective list as per the procedure of the Supreme Court.The High Court had, in its August 3 order, directed Punjab to release up-to-date pending instalments of DA/DR to its employees and pensioners by August 31. It had also directed the State not to resort to unproductive expenditure such as large-scale advertising campaigns in print or social media until the dues were cleared.The Bench, while declining to hear the application in detail on Monday, adjourned the matter to September 10.