Dear Friends,
We are in the final phase of our
fight in our pension case in the
Supreme Court. We have read, heard and
discussed so far on the merits,
legal points, strengths of our case
and seen the tortuous course it had
thus far taken. Much research
has also gone to strengthen our
case by digging into the legal,
logical points and the justification
of our case.
I am sure that the captains, leading our case have noted all those points and appraised our counsels handling the case. Nonetheless, it is extremely important for us to once again go through and formulate a draft of the defence we are going to present, at the time of the final arguments. We should be equivocal in our arguments and unified in our approach. It is important to realise that our counsels are seasoned advocates and, I may be pardoned to say, that some time they may take it easy, because what we may see as important, is a usual thing for them. Yet, I feel bold enough to emphasize on this, from my experience in interacting and briefing, so that no point is missed.
While arguing our case, first we are selling our points to the Judges. There will be questions from the Bench. The best we have to do, is to present our points cogently (this is less arduous now as the LIC & Govt. will have to present their case first). By now we are well aware of the arguments that may arise from the Appellants side and I am sure, we have the defence. We must be present in the court with our Advocates to take note of any new points that may be raised, in order to immediately appraise our counsel. Of course, our advocates know to counter arguments, still we have a duty to give them a feedback, because we have to ensure that they have been briefed correctly so that any attempt to confuse the court, as it happened earlier as regards the number of retirees and the total cost etc., may be cleared. It is suggested that a written argument and detailed a point by point arguments with supporting case laws and our legal and moral justification to our contentions may be prepared and given to our Advocates.
Our captains would have taken appropriate decisions as to the next step, if any, to be taken in the light of the LIC’s response to paying 20% of our claim as per the directive of the SC. There appears to be no clear cut action and many of us are talking about the intransigence of the LIC to the SC order.
As I have earlier written, I strongly feel there should be no attempt to drag the LIC over the coals, through another contempt petition, for the simple reason we may miss the woods for the timber, and lose precious time and money. The contempt course may well drag on and our date 23-9-15 may be missed in the process. We will not gain anything through a contempt petition, expect delay in the final hearing of the case. I have suggested that we may move a prayer to the SC to fix an early date for final arguments and can mention the reluctance of the LIC to obey the orders of the SC. I feel, there is nothing wrong even if we submit that LIC is not interested to implement the SC’s directions and are trying to delay the judicial process, we are not interested to initiate contempt proceedings, which, if the SC feels, may be done at the pleasure of the Court. Our prayer should be for an early final hearing, in view of the fact that the Respondents are senior citizens in their 70 & 80’s and every passing day is reducing their numbers.
While arguing our case, first we are selling our points to the Judges. There will be questions from the Bench. The best we have to do, is to present our points cogently (this is less arduous now as the LIC & Govt. will have to present their case first). By now we are well aware of the arguments that may arise from the Appellants side and I am sure, we have the defence. We must be present in the court with our Advocates to take note of any new points that may be raised, in order to immediately appraise our counsel. Of course, our advocates know to counter arguments, still we have a duty to give them a feedback, because we have to ensure that they have been briefed correctly so that any attempt to confuse the court, as it happened earlier as regards the number of retirees and the total cost etc., may be cleared. It is suggested that a written argument and detailed a point by point arguments with supporting case laws and our legal and moral justification to our contentions may be prepared and given to our Advocates.
Our captains would have taken appropriate decisions as to the next step, if any, to be taken in the light of the LIC’s response to paying 20% of our claim as per the directive of the SC. There appears to be no clear cut action and many of us are talking about the intransigence of the LIC to the SC order.
As I have earlier written, I strongly feel there should be no attempt to drag the LIC over the coals, through another contempt petition, for the simple reason we may miss the woods for the timber, and lose precious time and money. The contempt course may well drag on and our date 23-9-15 may be missed in the process. We will not gain anything through a contempt petition, expect delay in the final hearing of the case. I have suggested that we may move a prayer to the SC to fix an early date for final arguments and can mention the reluctance of the LIC to obey the orders of the SC. I feel, there is nothing wrong even if we submit that LIC is not interested to implement the SC’s directions and are trying to delay the judicial process, we are not interested to initiate contempt proceedings, which, if the SC feels, may be done at the pleasure of the Court. Our prayer should be for an early final hearing, in view of the fact that the Respondents are senior citizens in their 70 & 80’s and every passing day is reducing their numbers.
(To be continued)
