Dear Mr Kishore,
At one point of time, I was also
thinking that the' in rem' payment was relevant only when the final
judgment was delivered by SC .
But on thinking over the matter more
deeply, it seems to me that there are broader implications
of the SC interim order.
There is no stay on all the
three HC judgments. Delhi HC judgment has been delivered basing it
on the Jaipur SJB Order. The operative part of the Jaipur judgment directs LIC
to take steps to implement the LIC Board Resolution. So the Delhi
HC judgment is linked to the implementation of the Board Resolution.The Board
Resolution cannot be implemented for only a limited number of eligible
retirees. When SC has directed that interim relief be paid by LIC as
per impugned judgments, I am of the view that 'as per the impugned
judgment' means,interim relief also should be paid in rem. If LIC does not
do so, it is committing gross contempt of court.
Looking at from another angle, the
SC order was issued on 7/5/2015. The prescribed period for obedience of the
order expired on 18/6/2015. Now a letter has been addressed to the Class I
Federation on 6/7/2015 for submission of list of members within 3 weeks, that
is before 27/7/2015. God knows when actually the amounts of relief and
what pittance of an amount will be in the hands of the
eligible pensioners(according to LIC).
The date of next hearing in the Supreme
Court is 23/9/2015. The 'lucky' pensioners will thank their stars if they
receive the long awaited and so- far- elusive interim relief before that date.
Where is the relief for the
aged 76+ year old pensioners ? Are the real benefits of SC order dt 7/5/2015
flowing to the pensioners even in the interim ?
If it is not gross
violation of human rights and blatant contempt of court by LIC , what else is
it? It is not merely an emotional issue, but a valid legal and human rights
issue.
Pensioners seem to be
having no alternative but to wait, watch and suffer.
Kind regards.
C H Mahadevan
On Thu, Jul 9, 2015 at 9:01 AM,
Seetha And Kishore <rbkseetha@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dear Sri Mahadevan,
1)The important point to
be noticed is, this is SC Order for interim payment only.The case is not yet
taken up in full bloom.As SC Bench observed, as the case involves issue of
enhancement of pension,SC has reserved the case for submissions on Merits of
the case ,on & after 23 september, 2015
2)U recall many
pensioners & even activists, were voicing pessimism.in
spite of clear verdicts by SC,that all aggrieved in same position,with same set
of grievances,wherever they are, shall derive benefit out of SC judgement
embracing all such persons.Yet, an air of pessimism or over-caution
prevails.When interim measures are ordered by SC Bench, we try to extend it to
- in rem--right now, When the stage for that FINAL decision is yet to arrive
,we overreach ourselves,emotionally glued like a gum, as we are, to try to
hasten maximum coverage right now
3)We should also
remember that there are 3 cases of 3 HCs tagged on to Principal Jaipur HC order
& CAs.One may even crudely say ,that for Jaipur & CGH also,this should
be considered for , in rem. LIC wont,it is clear, individual entity &
pensioner.In Delhi case,it is NOT an individual persona, but an organisational
entity. So, problems came.We know amount is deposited in the 2 HCs only.
4)I dont think we can
compare a meagre 1250 All India Class I Officers in Gratuity case with 14,500
pre 8/1997 pensioners, a whopping numbers.
We cannot prepone an all
embracing, clearcut, judgement yet to be debated in the final, fiery legal
battle on 23 Sep 2015 ,whether it covers TWIN benefits,to whom, will SC end
discrimination from the DATE discrimination arose, 1/8/97 for DR & whatever
date ,for pension upgradation 1/1/2007 or earlier.That state is yet to arrive.
5)When that stage
comes, all cases tagged on to Jaipur merge, the beneficiaries are known,LIC has
full data of Pre-8/1997 pensioners, as also subsequent Groups of pensioners,
wage charter wise 1/8/97--31/7/2002, 1/8/2002--31/7/2007 .So, list disappears
then only, not now
6)All said & done,
LIC has an array of lawyers even to offer considered advice to Legal &
Personnel Dept & they would have taken into account all points of view
in-depth & then only this decision to ask for the List
Even if they are moving
in wrong or muddy waters,when that time arrives, then let us have a laugh &
not earlier
greetings & warm
regards,
R.B.KISHORE,VP,AIRIEF
ED(Retd),LIC,PROBUS LIFE MEMBER,
044-28155810 / 098403 40591
__VISIT airiefvision.wordpress.com______
ED(Retd),LIC,PROBUS LIFE MEMBER,
044-28155810 / 098403 40591
__VISIT airiefvision.wordpress.com______
