As per the SC order, LIC is required to pay 20% of the amount due to the respondent-pensioners as per the impugned judgments of the three High Courts.
If LIC has given instructions to LIC Chandigarh & Jaipur DOs to release 20% of the amount earlier deposited in Court Registry, it would mean that the DOs have been instructed to pay faulty (inadequate) amounts to the original petitioners.
Also even the faulty amounts deposited by LIC were upto October 2013 in Jaipur and upto April 2014 in Chandigarh. If they do not update their calculations correctly (including upgradation of pension) upto May 2015, they are clearly liable to be charged with contempt of court. Even if LIC pays the interim relief to only the two sets of petitioners leaving out the Delhi petitioners under the pretext of need for clarification, LIC will only be compounding its liability to be charged with further contempt.
All the three sets of petitioners have a very strong case to proceed with contempt application in SC immediately after it opens after summer vacation in July 2015.
In the meantime, the petitioners who receive the inadequate amount of interim relief will be well advised to record their protest in writing with LIC against the latter paying the amount far short of what is required to be paid under the SC’s interim order dt 7/5/2015.
C H Mahadevan