1) All eyes are on Hon Judge R.S.Chauhan’s Orders in CCP760/2010.It has been something like fact finding commission looking to the 2 day episodes of 2 hrs & next day about an hour. We have circulated in last few months many cases of Contempt Petition where Hon Judges have segregated arguments, sifted facts & ultimately sided on the side of pensioners as justice was on their side. Here too it must be so.But rumours are flying. Whatever it be, Sri Asthana will closely analyse the Final order & take necessary steps speedily. How can such a simple 5 line Affidavit confining to affirmation that LIC has complied with Board Resolution & not contravened any in Board Resolution, & replete with errors & blunders of DR calculation, merger, weightage etc be taken as the final arbiter ? Who will answer or be the Judge about main issue in CCP760/2010 which is in respect of CWP 654/2007 on pension upgradation & when Hon SJ M.N. Bhandari has admitted both the writs on DR & Pension upgradation, how can any sane person conclude his orders with CWP 6676/1998 & Board Resolution? Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice hurried is justice buried. But Justice wrongly delivered distorts, upsets, hurts & reverses the true course of justice, especially when about 9 Judges of various Courts have applied their minds & concurred with Hon SJ Verdict even with added penalty of 12 % interest, what more ?
2) When Respondent has not paid a single paisa towards pension upgradation for which alone this CCP 760/2010 was filed, it becomes crystal clear that it is direct violation of Hon SJ judgement dt 12/1/2010 admitting both the writs. This Hon Court must, therefore, straightaway dismiss LIC submission reply as of no consequence & not befitting an institution which must honourably fulfil in entirety the full & complete orders of Hon SJ.Doing something slipshod & trying to prove the wrong direction in which Respondent is proceeding without any rectification or correction in its course clearly points out the absurdity of their intentions, with only one main aim to thwart the Hon SJ verdict & deny due benefits allowed by Hon SJ in his Judgement dt 12/1/2010. If this is not contempt, what else it is ?
2) When Respondent has not paid a single paisa towards pension upgradation for which alone this CCP 760/2010 was filed, it becomes crystal clear that it is direct violation of Hon SJ judgement dt 12/1/2010 admitting both the writs. This Hon Court must, therefore, straightaway dismiss LIC submission reply as of no consequence & not befitting an institution which must honourably fulfil in entirety the full & complete orders of Hon SJ.Doing something slipshod & trying to prove the wrong direction in which Respondent is proceeding without any rectification or correction in its course clearly points out the absurdity of their intentions, with only one main aim to thwart the Hon SJ verdict & deny due benefits allowed by Hon SJ in his Judgement dt 12/1/2010. If this is not contempt, what else it is ?
3) When LIC has to execute the Hon SJ verdict for which there is no embargo but an emphatic NO STAY order from the highest Court of the land & as this did not happen,& it was again becoming protracted ,even after many clarifications by Hon DB judgement of Rajasthan HC dt 21/1/2011 while dismissing Respondents Appeal & again after Respondent persisted with a Review Petition, that too was dismissed by Hon DB Rajasthan HC vide their order dt.19/8/2011The very filing of CWP 654/2007 was exclusively in respect of Pension upgradation with every wage revision.
4) It also involved pension upgradation with wage revision to counter & reduce the monstrous anomalies whereby today a lower grade employee ,many grades below, get higher pension than even much higher grade pensioners who also had put in 35 years of service & more. This matter has been delineated by learned Hon SJ with examples & adduced reason to remedy & rectify the anomalies with an extension of Respondents Board Resolution dt 24/11/2001 as, with passage of time, subsequent wage revisions fell due & those employees/retirees got due uplift in pension denying the altered pension substituting new scales of pay was denied to existing pensioners still struggling with low basic pension, unaltered for 20 years & more.
5) The SC clarificatory order dt 17 October, 2012 over their earlier order dt 14 November, 2011 directing that retiral benefit payments be made from the date of eligibility, meaning thereby date of retirement is also not complied with. Respondent never calculated any amount from date of retirement, confined to DR aspect only & also eliminated from consideration post-8/1997 pensioners, thus defying & denying due benefit to all classes of pensioners without classification.Thus undertaking given to fulfil SC orders was not adhered to by distorting & misinterpreting the Judgement to suit their own erroneous interpretation & narrowly circumscribing solution to DR factor only without realizing the true intent & purpose of the impartial verdict offering solution to pensioners woes as delineated in both the writs. Further, it becomes clear that DR only interpretation is absurd & even nonsensical as HON SJ Rajasthan HC has admitted both the writs CWP 6676/1998 & 654/2007 on pension upgradation. It is further reiterated that present CCP 760/2010 is in respect of 654/2007 only exclusively on pension upgradation.
6) So too, Punjab & Haryana HC confirmed Rajasthan HC Hon SJ judgement & also added 12 % interest to be paid by Respondent for delayed payment by their order dt 9/11/2012 in CWP16346/2011 & Delhi HC also reaffirming Hon SJ judgement dt 12/1/ 2010 & added this has to be extended ‘in rem’ to all aggrieved & affected pensioners by their order dt 30/1/2013 plus SC categorical assertion of No Stay on Hon SJ verdict of 12/1/2010, only action left to be done by Respondent was to submit compliance in full to the Hon SJ judgement without any provisos or restrictions. It is erroneous to arrive at conclusion that Hon SJ judgement is under scrutiny on questions of law as SLPs 29956 & 29957 were dismissed by Hon SC on 8/8/2013. The judgement thus has attained finality & same cannot be shattered by filing appeals again & again. Mere preferment of an appeal does not automatically operate as a stay of the decision under appeal & the decision continues to be operative. Indeed, non-compliance with the decision on the mere ground that an appeal is actually preferred, and that, therefore, the matter is sub-judice, amouns to contempt of Court punishable under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. It is unethical & immoral to postpone compliance any longer as CCP has run for much greater length of time than warranted, more so after an assertion by Hon SC that there is No Stay on Hon SJ judgement dt 12/1/2010.
7) It has been a tedious & tortuous legal proceedings, so frustrating for pensioners waiting for long for an emphatic and empathetic order in CCP 760/2010 by this Hon Judge in disposing CCP. It is conspicuous & clear that Hon SJ adjudicated on both issues of Full DR & pension upgradation with sound submissions by all parties & citing several case laws in support of the same with valid , justifiable & justiciable reasons forcefully depicted in judgement unambiguously. To deny this is to deny full equity, justice, fair play & sabotage Fundamental Rights enshrined in Constitution which no Court can allow to be tampered under any circumstances. Fixity of notions on the part of the Respondent to deny pension upgradation is a severe contempt of this HC & not to implement for so many years by an extension of Respondents own Board sanctified Resolution dt 24/11/2001 to subsequent wage revisions as was delineated by Hon SJ in his judgement dt 12/1/2010 is a standing example of the adamancy & single track mind of Respondent to nullify hard earned judgement with heavy costs & expenses in many directions strictly not affordable by pensioners fraternity, yet borne with patience & endurance to solicit victory for the just, modest & legitimate demands of pensioners.One cannot throw all the positive & unanimous judgements from many HCs mentioned above as irrelevant & unjustifiable from any point of view.
8) It will be a travesty of justice if CCP is dismissed as, with tremendous inputs on in-depth analysis of Hon SJ Judgement, quoting in extenso Jaipur verdict with all later developments faithfully reported & supported by many clarifications, rebuttals of simplistic , narrow view & supported by wonderful facts & figures, with Tables & Charts, many thereafter veered round to the reasoned, valid & forceful arguments ventilated in the Judgement as also amplified with illustrations for the benefit of all readers & pensioners.It has indeed been a tale of strength & commitment,dedication & devotion , only to help, assist, protect, preserve & promote entire pensioners fraternity welfare & harmony with this illustrious & deserved benefit ,which is a dire& imperative need in these troubled times of monstrous anomalies, a pittance of retirement benefits & absence of perks & privileges & same, status quo pension for 20 yrs unchanged from 1/11/1993! Whatever it be, the strident march of the caravan of pensioners cannot be permanently halted. It has been a Tale of 2 cities. The Tale can only end with a positive note ultimately as true justice always wins at the end. The brave soldiers will march on with renewed vigour & gusto.
R.B.KISHORE,VP,AIRIEF