India, March 6 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Punjab government for what it termed the "most shameless" act of arguing that a statement made by the state's law officer regarding pensionary benefits for employees of government-aided colleges could not bind the government because it was a statement made by "an executive."

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh took Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha, who appeared virtually, to task for failing to implement previous court orders and reneging on official assurances. The court warned Sinha that either the state remedy the situation or those responsible must face contempt action.

"This is taking the court for a ride. Repeated undertakings were given to ...