MUSINGS . ......G N SRIDHARAN

The entire nation is under the grip of extreme anxiety due the impact of the deadly covid-19 virus.  Though most of us got an unusual opportunity to spend time on a 24/7 basis for the last two months  with our families,the fact remains that we have no clue on when will be able to resume our natural  ways of life. In my personal view the Govts.both at the centre and states have been doing whatever  is possible to tackle the prevailing grim situation despite criticisms from politically motivated quarters.  We also see the govt being confused on how to jack up the sagging economy.                   In such an unprecedented situation, we can  treat this as an appropriate time to reflect  on the actions taken by us in relation to the issues confronting us and review them .It also provides  us the time to devote our thoughts on how we should proceed when the situation hopefully normalises.   The following lines are therefore intended to share my thoughts in that direction                   We, LIC pensioners constitute a part of the community of Pensioners of  Financial institutions in Public sector, the others being SBI, Nationalised banks, GIC and last  but not the least RBI. Let us realise that out of the said list, RBI is on a seperate level occupying  a special place in the eyes of the govt because of the role it is supposed to play in steering  the economy and even any comparison with RBI pensioners may  not help our causes be it with the judiciary  or the Govt. SBI also has its own pension rules and IBA does not have direct jurisdiction to deal  with the problems of their employees /pensioners. That therefore leaves only the pensioners  of nationalised banks as the 'first cousins' of the pensioners of the Insurance sector (LIC & GIC) . Let me remind that  it is the 'policy' of the govt to club Banking & Insurance in regard to the emoluments of their e mployees/pensioners and consequently the basic point to be borne in our minds is that judiciary   will not interfere on the decisions of the executive except when any decision/action  offends  any constitutional guarantees available to us as citizens.                    Again having had  a long experience in handling LIC pensioners' issues ,  efficiently or otherwise as per anybody's assessment , the main issues that we along with  pensioners of the Banking sector (particularly nationalised banks) have to contend with and the  hitches and road blocks faced in our actions can be dealt with  under  four broad topics as follows : 1) DR Anamoly  : This has witnessed a  fiercely fought out Legal battle for nearly a decade  and a half. We were the first to seek judicial redress by filing WP 184/2007 in the Delhi HC  .We were lucky to get  favourable order in 2010 but in the appeal filed by LIC / GOI combine  the Supreme court by its order passed in 3/2016 remanded it back to Delhi HC for a finding  on the constitutional validity of Rule 3 A of our pension rules. The Delhi HC in its second  innings gave a confusing order by which while broadly accepting our contention  on discrimination prescribed its own formula for neutralisation of DR resulting in our demand  for 100 % nutralisation getting diluted.In any case we achieved a near 100% neutralisation  if not fully.                                    Our pensioner brothers in banking sector also had an identical problem  except the cut off date for denial of 100% DR in their case was 11/2002 as against 8/97  in our case. They had also gone to the court on the issue and their litigation had gone  through two streams viz 1)  from Madras HC where the petitioners were the pensioners four nationalised  banks including Bank of Baroda and 2) from Kolkata HC where the matter was initiated  for the pensioners of United Bank of India.While a single judge of the Madras HC had allowed the  Writ the Division bench set aside the same. In Kolkata HC the order was clear and categorical in granting  100% neutralisation as prayed for. The matters arising from both the High courts were taken to   the Supreme court which clubbed both and unfortunately passed a combined order detrimental  to the interests of the pensioners. Review petitions were filed and it also failed. The UBI pensioners  organisation filed a curative petition and that was also dismissed recently on   /5/2020 after the matter  was heard through video conferencing.                            With the dismissal of the curative petition of UBI I am of the firm view that the curtains  are drawn on the issue of denial of 100% DR neutralisation and it would be absolutely futile for any party  t o even think of agitating any further. In fact shri G Palani the President of BOB retired officers' was good  enough to seek my opinion in the matter and I have advised him that in the context of the need for us  to concentrate on the larger and more important issue of up gradation of pension it would be wise and  advisable  to treat the issue as closed.                             Before concluding this subject I am sure that even the partial success had accrued only to  LIC pensioners and perhaps it was the only major and common benefit that came the way of at least a  section of LIC pensioners in over a decade. I take pardonable pride in having been instrumental in  leading to near victory through the judiciary on the issue. 2) Faulty fixation of pension.:  This has been a very sensitive issue though affecting only a group of pensioners   retiring during the  period between the expiry of an existing wage revision and the date of implementation  of  the next wage revision. A Typical example in our case is  what is known as MC Jain's case.  Even after the Supreme court had upheld the judgement of the Rajasthan HC in favour of Mr. Jain, the  LIC management ,obviously under Finance ministry's dictat , has been refusing to extend the court relied  granted to shri.MC jain to all similarly placed retirees. The result of this is we are compelled  to get endlessly involved in pursuing the cases initiated in the Kerala HC seeking similar relief for all in that   category                             A similar situation had arisen for the pensioners in the banking sector also, particularly t he retires of Bank of Baroda,though under some slightly different circumstances. .The concerned litigaition (  G Palani & others vs BOB/ Goi) also reached the supreme court which after taking its own time was pleased  to grant the relief  prayed for by the pensioners by its order dt.13/2/2018 in CA no.5525/2012.  A notable point about this judgem ent is that it clearly directed the Bank to implement the decision to all similarly placed pensioners . The bank has since implemented it.                           Since this issue of faulty pension fixation affects a small segment and since in our ( LIC) case  the issue is sub justice there seems to be no alternative but wait for end of litigation whatever time it takes. 3) court verdicts - Faulty or non implementation: Out of sheer necessity and with no other way to go we have knocked at the doors of judiciary on important  issues discussed herein putting up with enormous delay and considerable cost. We do succeed at times  but at  the Institutional level (at the hands of our own organisations) the benefits flowing from court orders  get diluted. We have experienced  such a s situation.. A standing example is the manner in which the Delhi HC  judgment on DR anamoly was implemented.I am aware the situation is the same in Banking sector also.   Another disgusting fact is that when a positive verdict is secured by an individual or an association  the managements do not take the initiative to extend the same benefits to other similarly placed pensioners. while this has happened to us in MC jain matter, I came across recently a strong communication  addressed by a crusader for the causes of SBI pensioners( shri PP Upadhyaya) to the chairman of SBI   making out a case for removal of pension anamolies by applying the spirit of the SC judgment in the BOB  case referred to above for the affected pensioners of SBI also.                                 In my view this malady cannot be eradicated so long as the mindset of the those  in top management is influenced by their own personal ambitions instead of being guided by  convictions  of fair play. To bring about a change the only possible course will be to enlist support of powerful politicians  for doing which most of our representative associations appear to be reluctant. As a result an average   pensioner is made to believe that only judiciary can deliver what we want. 4) Periodical up gradation of Pension. The justification for this demand needs hardly any over emphasis. If  pension is not a bounty but is only a  deferred wage, there is no reason why there should be no rise in it in sync with the periodical wage revision  for the in-srevice work force.Unfortunately the holy principles enunciated by the SC some 37 years back  (1983) in Nakara's case stands evaporated to day. It is gratifying that we,LIC pensioners, have taken up this  issue while it is surprising that no representative organisation of Bank pensioners seems to have approached  the judiciary on this subject.For RBI pensioners a scheme of notional up gradation has reportedly been  approved by the Ministry of Finance (Dept.of FS) on 5/3/2019. Howevever as already mentioned whether  we can be equated with RBI is a moot question. In the absence of any clause in Pension Rules to provide for automatic periodical hike in pension ,  it is necessary for us to carefully handle the  pending case in SC. We have taken necessary action b ut we should be conscious of the fact that the result or fruits of our action lies  only with HIM as  Lord Krishna  says in Bhagavat Gita. I consider it relavant to quote a portion of the concerned sloka : " karmanyeva adhikharaste ma phaleshu kadhachana " ( gita Ch 2:47 )                                      Conclusion Having analysed the scenario in regard to pensioners demands particularly those involved in court cases  with parallel references to the banking sector, I wish to offer the following suggestions to the leaders of the  organisations of LIC pensioners alone in regard to  the conduct of the pending SLP in the supreme court  on the issue of up gradation .Needless to stress I am doing so on the basis of 'Take it or Leave it ' 1) Please allow the pending case to remain dormant until at least regular open court proceedings  commence  in the supreme court. 2) Avoid 'one up' game to invite a hasty hearing through video conferencing as it happened in the case of  united Bank pensioners. 3) Understand that ours is not a very urgent case in terms of Sc classification and that considering the   delicate mature attending to the upgradation demand a regular open court hearing will be a better  option than a virtual hearing. 4) you may appreciate the legal acumen in your individual members or associates but restrain them i f possible from doling out legal advice or opinion through blogs,mails etc. 5) Leave matter to be handled by your chosen counsel(s) and keep counseling the counsels  to the minimum.                            I am sure that every one will share my hope that the virus scare will go away  soon and an early lifting of the lock down will enable all to resume normal activity shortly.  I wish all the pensioners very Happy times in the days to come. -- GNSridharan