DEAR ALL,
The Supreme Court order is no doubt disappointing to the large
fraternity of pensioners, but the silver lining in the cloud is that the
Apex Court has recognised the importance of the issue of enhancement of
pension as is evidenced by its order to list
the CAs for hearing between items 1 to 5 in the hearing list on
23/9/2015.
Considering the trend of the Supreme Court ordering interim relief
only to the respondent employees (original petitioners), I feel it is
high time that the AIRIEF considered the desirability and necessity of
getting itself impleaded in the CAs in the Supreme
Court so that benefits - if and when ordered by the Apex Court - will be
guaranteed for all the eligible pensioners. This step of course will
have to weigh the possibility of the legal processes involved and the
time element in carrying on the litigation that
may entail further delay.
But if all the three Civil Appeals are decided in favour of the
pensioner-petitioners, the 'in rem' principle adopted in the Delhi HC
judgment should come to the rescue of pensioners at large. However,
legal experts may be able to enlighten us in the
matter.
With greetings,