Dear friends,
I was shocked to find
the Heading in Chronicle blog that the 2 Judge Bench in GIC National
Insurance VRS Retirees case goes against the spirit of Nakara
judgement. Any judgement, till it is heard & pronounced, one must
keep his fingers crossed.
Here the title was
negative & can send shock waves to pensioner fraternity. It is better
to avoid such headings & atleast quote from where that doomsday
picture is painted.
It is true that pensioners
may always need oxygen support to breathe, as even the legal system is choked,
adversely affecting pensioners genuine interest & welfare.
More so on the eve of
the DDay 14th January 2015,
it is worthwhile to scan, then insert such spicy information, out to frustrate
the already beleaguered pensioners exhibiting such remarkable patience &
perseverance.
2) I was away
for 2 days & when I went through the plethora of emails, this in
chronicle blog put me out of gear. I have gone through the judgement. Out
& out , the reasoning & rationale is only in connection with
VRS retirees in particular.
Of course that was
the subject matter of the hearing. The eminent Judges have, at great
length, pointed out that when once VRS is taken, such group of retirees go out
of employers radar & no longer connected with the institution.
The sum & substance,
the tone & tenor of the judgement clearly asserts that VRS retirees opted
for the institutions plan of voluntary retirement, they enjoyed fairly
substantial benefits as a fair method of compensation.
The judgement also
lays stress on the organizations powers to prune expenditure, escalating costs
& when this plan was announced, they have outlined the methodology &
amount in detail, which are reasonable & cannot be called as vindictive or
termed as adversely affecting constitutional rights of retirees.
Viewed in this
sense, the Bench ordered that no further revision of pension can take place
& what all they deserved by this act of institution, inclusive of notional
5 year addition to length of service was also included already for pension
calculation & settled & so there is no reason to accept their arguments
& hence dismissed the petition of VRS retirees.
3) All of us have gone through a spate of judgements in respect
of regular retirees after full length of service with the institution &;
they stand apart from the group of VRS retirees.
We also revel at many many
positive judgements in favour of pensioners for pension upgradation with every
wage revision. Latest such verdict was from the then Chief Justice R.M.Lodha
alongwith 4 other Judge companions ,who unequivocally declared that the Defence
Forces must get fitment of pension revision from 1/1/2006, the 6th
Pay Commission date, & not 1/9/2012, which the UOI was clamouring &
insisting but SC Bench stuck to their decision.
4) There are plentiful judgements allowing pension to
those who resigned & who did not avail of pension. Courts
empathetically considered Resignations as Retirements in normal course.
.Banks have many such favourable judgements which
they have circulated.
We also saw recently that
Courts propounded that no recovery should be made of any revelation of excesss payments
or wrongdoing by Employees, if such investigation comes after 5 years &
also in respect of Category C & D employees ie Class 3 & 4,
& also in the case of pensioners.
It becomes clear,therefore,
the general trend is supportive of pensioners cause & there should not
be any room for despair or disappointment with this judgement,applicable
uniquely for VRS retirees only.
Greetings, R.B.KISHORE,
VP,AIRIEF
Sorrow
looks back,Worry looks around,Faith looks up.
We must become the Change we wish to see in the world.Each raindrop makes some flowers glow;each struggle lessens human woe
We must become the Change we wish to see in the world.Each raindrop makes some flowers glow;each struggle lessens human woe
