Dear Shri.Gangadharan,
remainder of the arguments relating to our case will be heard by a
Special Bench on 13th of March. As has been our habit all these
years, let us wait hopefully for a positive verdict, of course, with
our fingers crossed. I have listed below a few points which still are
shrouded in ambiguity and bother different sections of the
pensioners' community. They are:
1) Has the "Board Resolution" spelt out Upgradation of pension in the
same vein as parity in DA to those pensioners who retired prior to
8/97?
2) Does Hon.Bhandari's judgement of the Jaipur High Court unequivocally
deal with Pension Upgradation as it has the DA issue? Or is it our
presumption that in as much as it has been admitted by the HC the
surmise is that it embraces the Upgradation issue too?
3) Why are we so mortally afraid of Sec.48 of the Insurance Act and
even toe the line of our adversary's argument that Hon.Bhandaris
judgement would be against law and, therefore, may prove to be a
stumbling block in the Apex Court? When our Advocates have very
successfully played the inequity card, quoting Article 14 of the
Constitution, is this doubt relevant and justifiable?
4) Should we at all try to compare our case with that of the Bank
employees when the history of their wage revisions, benefits and
service conditions have nothing much in common and put ideas in the
minds of the judge/s hearing our case? The Beauracracy is
deliberately bringing the 'ripple effect' syndrome to the fore to
destabilise us. Should we fall a prey to their machinations.
These and a host of other doubts expressed by many of our
pensioners in your BLOG need clarifications. I am not a legal stuff
myself and all that I have gathered regarding the essence of our case
are from your BLOG. May be some of the queries raised above are not
quite relevant. Yet, in the interest of all pensioners and in the
interest of removing all road blocks on the road to our victory on
13th March, I would be grateful if any one of our Case Leaders clarify
them.
Looking forward to your minute to minute coverage of the court
events on 13th.
With warm regards,
M V Venugopalan