BASIC, FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES - A RUNNING COMMENTARY OF SALIENT & SAGACIOUS ARGUMENTS FOR REBUTTAL OF UOI AFFIDAVIT, DISMISSAL OF SLP 29956 & 29957 OF 2011 AND TO CLINCH VICTORY IN SC AND JAIPUR HC.
(Continued from earlier Post No.1)
B) i) Nakara SC 5-Judge Constitution Bench presided by Hon CJ Y.V.Chandrachud in D.S.Nakara vs UOI, regarded as the Magna Carta for Pensioners, cleared the air and categorically asserted ‘by introducing an arbitrary eligibility criteria and thereby dividing a homogeneous class, violates Article 14 & is unconstitutional’
ii) Basic Pension unchanged and static right from 1/11/1993, a long long 20 yrs !! is obnoxious, it will be a travesty of justice, building up, perplexing anomalies, glaring discrepancies and unbridgeable paradoxes & so,has to be addressed & redressed,by Courts alone & so came the landmark judgement of Jaipur HC by SJ Hon Bhandari on 12/1/2010
iii) Even Commuted pension after 8/2002 is higher than Basic Pension of pre-8/97 pensioners, &
After 8/2007 wage ,CP is even equal to ADM’s Total Pension.
This shows such a shabby, miserly pension to the pensioners.Ridiculous if no revision of pension takes place, as is ordained in Several Case Laws,& IV, V, VI Pay Commission pronouncements.
iv) Poor Retirement benefits, I don’t want to mention the present-day Retirement benefits,pittance of Gratuity then, now Rs10 lacs,many daily disabilities & heavy expenses on all items with continued exhorbitant inflation, & especially medical outlay formidable indeed eroding already low pension. All around tragedy, depicted truly & correctly without an iota of exaggeration, a holistic picture & panorama presented,YET, some crow ONLY DR, we will see pension revision later.
v) LIC an Economic Tajmahal & undeclared Navarathna,Assets, Life Fund,Total Income, all staggering. A staggering Rs13 lac crore Life Fund & a whopping Rs 2 lac crore Total Premium Income.
vi) OER satisfactory
vii) Surplus Last 14 yrs alone,LIC paid to Govt Rs 7,873 cr, a Kamadhenu indeed & all on a mere Rs. 5 cr given by Govt on 1/9/1956 WHAT AN ENTITY, IN FACT ALL CONSTITUENTS OF SUCH EMINENT INSTITUTIONS MUST HAVE ALL BENEFITS, PERKS MUCH MUCH HIGHER FOR THE OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE.
viii) 5-Year Plans, People money for People Welfare, tremendous fillip given by LIC, LIC Solvency & Solidity unquestionable.
ix) Outlay for pension revision after wage revision will be a tail of wage agreement PLLI, will be a tail of Meal Coupon offer by LIC to Employees apart from fabulous wage rise – Rs400 cr bonanza, a tail of other Allowances other than DA, HRA, CCA again for all.
x) HC must remember that in an egalitarian society, a democracy, with so many classes of people, there must be some COHERENCE,TRANSPARENCY, EQUITY in pension amongst different disciplines & SECTORS UNDOUBTEDLY.
It will be shocking to know that Govt TP is far higher than LIC TP & further, Govt FP itself is higher than LIC Regular Pension.
xi) As at 1/1/2011, since as per Cost of Living Index ,% DA has crossed 50 %, as per convention & Pay Commission findings, All India Govt Pensioners Fedn has already put up its demand for Merger of DA/DR with Basic Pay/Pension.
WHERE IS LIC PENSION,WHITHER OR WITHER !! THAT MERGER OF DR WITH BP every 5 yrs as per principles propounded by HCs & SC is all that we are demanding for with humility & modesty.
xii) It must be remembered that Sri KML Asthana, RIEA Jaipur won the Gold coin issue on LIC Golden Jubilee, a cash award of Rs. 3000 pensioners got.
Gratuity case also came in our favour for Class I officers retired between 1/8/92 - 31/7/1994 with 10% interest. Recently after initial victory, when LIC went for appeal in Sri M.C.Jain, RM (Retd), LIC appeal was dismissed with orders to revise pay & pension too, for officers retired 1/8/92—31/3/93. Even the so-called DOB if falling on 1st, that employee must be deemed to retire not on last day of previous month but next month only was also Jaipur contribution. Let us give respect where respect is due for all the dedicated efforts, planning & strategy as also a labour of love & sacrifice against heavy odds. There is nothing like LUCK, it is only PLUCK, U SEE.
xiii) Justice Khandelawal Committee Report claims that Institutional settlement is the only logical & coherent answer to such issues & not jumbo for all & full scope & powers on all HRD, Personnel matters including wage/pension as necessary concomitant.
xiii) Justice Khandelawal Committee Report claims that Institutional settlement is the only logical & coherent answer to such issues & not jumbo for all & full scope & powers on all HRD, Personnel matters including wage/pension as necessary concomitant.
C) Statutory Bodies like Boards once created, they become supreme in their own right & they should exercise powers & no interference or intrusion by higher Authority be there.
D) Recently, while inaugurating 300 Mini-Offices of LIC, which was a Budget action plan, FM Sri P.Chidambaram said, "the performance figures of LIC GIVE AN INDICATION WHY LIC IS DEAR TO US. LIC IS A JEWEL IN OUR CROWN.& WHY WE WILL CONTINUE TO NURTURE LIC. LIC IS NOT ONLY A MARKET LEADER BUT ALSO A MARKET MAKER. THE 3 LETTER LIC STAND AS A SYNONYM FOR INSURANCE,FOR EXCELLENCE IN STRENGTHENING THE ECONOMIC FIBRE OF THIS COUNTRY. I DARE TO SAY THAT NO OTHER 3 LETTERS TAKEN TOGETHER ARE MORE RECOGNISED IN THE LENGTH & BREADTH OF INDIA. I AM PROUD OF WHAT LIC HAS ACHIEVED IN 57 YEARS,BUT AS LONG AS THERE ARE UNINSURED PEOPLE,THE TASK OF LIC IS NOT OVER."
WHAT MORE,FRIENDS, SHOULD NOT UOI & LIC NOW HONOUR COURT VERDICTS ONE BY ONE IN PENSIONERS FAVOUR? SHOULD NOT EMPLOYEES GET THE BEST DEAL IN WAGE TALKS ?
E) LASTLY sweat & toil of pensioners,
- - 1000s of pensioners have died & are dying,
- - 12/13 yrs of indifference & harsh treatment of utter neglect to genuine, principled demands,
- - majority of pensioners above 70 yrs old .
- - Jaipur HC Single Judge verdict in pensioners favour,
- - LIC Appeals dismissed by DB, Jaipur HC with clear cut comments & orders for Full DR & pension revision after every wage revision.
- - National Litigation Policy NOW MORE THAN 4 yr old, Govt should not be a compulsive litigant & especially in Sr Citizens,pension/retirement benefits, no Appeals be made as a conscientious policy to be made a reality.
- - so many subsequent Victories including Chandigarh HC
- - these shd serve as a Beacon light to Eminent Hon Judges of SC Bench to accept our contentions & counter arguments & dismiss UOI Affidavit with costs.
(To be continued.. Post 3)