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| ASTHANA TALKS TO CHRONICLE |
Once again we are preparing for the final hearing in the Supreme Court on 14th of January 2015. As we scribble these sentences, we are still not sure whether the Supreme Court will take up the LIC appeal for consideration on 14th itself. The supreme court bench hearing our case is to sit only upto 1 pm on 14th. Much therefore depends on the serial number being allotted to us. Let us see how things move.
As we learn, all those responsible for conducting the supreme court case are moving to Delhi and will be available there for discussion. We had contacted all of them well in advance, this time with an approach paper. An ordinary pensioner will not like to leave things to chance. They want that there should be proper preparation, co-ordination and also sincere cooperation among the parties opposing LIC and GOI.
A positive development we observed after sending the approach paper is that the concerned parties expressed their willingness to talk. On earlier occasions, they could not agree to talk at all. But this time we stressed the need to have atleast a working relationship, the need for having cordial relations and willingness to share their thoughts with one another. Afterall our common foe is only LIC-GOI combine.
Talks with Shri Asthana - As noted in our post in Chronicle, we had made attempts to contact Shri Asthana and Shri GN Sridharan but the calls went unattended. Shri Asthana was kind enough to contact the Editor the next day and we had a talk for about 15 minutes. We had informed Shri Asthana that it was not our intention to knock at the doors of the leaders conducting the supreme court case. Our sordid experiences in the past precluded us from doing so. But the demand for initiating efforts kept mounting from pensioners as the hearing date came closer. And that was precisely the reason for our coming out with an approach paper.
The approach paper made it amply clear about the purpose of the Paper. The whole idea about preparation of this Paper is that there should be
A CONSENSUS ON COMMON THREATS FROM
THE APPELLANT AND
A CERTAIN GOODWILL AND WILLINGNESS TO
SUPPORT EACH OTHER IN THE COURT HALL
We are now glad to report that this is being achieved.
Shri Asthana agreed to the need for having some understanding. In fact, he said, he was always willing to have talks with others. Even now it is his ardent desire to have talks. Since however he is reaching Delhi on 13th morning and is also having an appointment with his Senior Advocate in the evening, he would be willing to discuss supreme court case within the limited time available. On our suggestion that there should be an intermediary, he suggested the name of Dr. Pritam. It is our hope Dr.Pritam will spare his valuable time for this purpose. Shri Asthana has informed us that he will be staying at Saidham, August Kranti Marg, Near Siri fort Stadium.
Similar contacts have also taken place with Shri GN Sridharan. Shri Sridharan has shown his willingness to talk if contacted. That being the situation, there will be talks with Shri Sridharan also. This is also a welcome development.
Let us hope, in view of these developments, we will achieve the limited objective of having
We greet the pensioners and wish them happy days ahead !
