LIC SLP IN SUPREME COURT CRRENT STATUS

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Status of : Special Leave Petition (Civil)    29956 -29957    OF   2011

Case Status Status : PENDING

L.I.C.   .Vs.   KRISHNA MURARI LAL ASTHANA & ORS. ETC.

Pet. Adv. : MR. ASHOK PANIGRAHI   Res. Adv. : MR. RAMESHWAR PRASAD GOYAL

Subject Category : SERVICE MATTERS - RETIRAL BENEFIT CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO VIEW http://courtnic.nic.in/courtnicsc.asp

Listed 2 times earlier.  There are no further orders of listing

Last updated on Dec 11 2011

ANSWER TO QUESTION ASKED IN RAJYA SABHA REGARDING OROP

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  DEFENCE
RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1296
ANSWERED ON-05.12.2012

Decision on one rank one pension scheme

1296 .    SHRI PRAKASH KESHAV JAVADKAR
HUSSAIN DALWAI

(a) whether Government has taken any decision regarding the demand of ‘one rank one pension’ for the ex-servicemen;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) how Government proposes to give full ‘one rank one pension’?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
(SHRI JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (d): Government has always been sensitive to the demand of One Rank One Pension. Keeping in view the spirit of the demand, several Commissions / Committees were appointed. Though the demand was not accepted, their recommendations resulted in improving the pension of past pensioners.

A Committee was set up under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary in June, 2009. The Committee went into the demand and other related issues. It made seven recommendations aimed at narrowing the gap between earlier and current pensions. This has benefited about 12 lakh retired PBORs / Officers at an annual cost of Rs.2200/- crores approximately.

Government constituted another Committee in July, 2012, headed by Cabinet Secretary for looking into the pay and pension related issues of relevance to Defence service personnel and Ex-servicemen. The Committee submitted its report. Its recommendations have been accepted by the Government and are in the process of implementation.

Substantial improvements have been made in the pensions of Armed Forces Personnel after 01.01.2006. However, improvement of pensionary benefits is an ongoing process.

source -http://rajyasabha.nic.in/

LATEST NEWS ON PRE-2006 CASE IN DELHI HIGH COURT

 A writ petition WP(C) 1535/2012 has been filed by UOI for grant of stay against the order dated   01.11.2011 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal  Bench, New Delhi in OA No. 655/2010 and in other OA. The case came up for hearing on 4/5/12,7/5/12 & 17/7/12 in which  following orders have been passed.

"We feel that it  would be appropriate that the petitioner files separate writ petitions in   respect  of  each of the OA which were filed before the Tribunal. The  present writ petition shall be considered as the writ petition in respect  of OA No. 655/2010.  We are issuing formal notice in this matter."   The learned counsel for the respondents state that there would be no necessity to file a counter-affidavit and  they would be relying on the pleadings before the Tribunal and shall not press the contempt application before the  Tribunal till the next date of hearing.  An adjournment slip has been filed on behalf of the respondent. 

  The case was again heard on 29.11.12. Respondents submitted Counters to the  Petition with a point wise reply  in writing. Court gave 4 weeks time to UOI to submit  their Rejoinder.Next date of hearing as per listing is 29/04/2013 .
( unreliable sources says that the  Govt. may issue orders before the next date of hearing accepting modified parity prospectively to avoid embarrassment as in the case of rank pay case of defense officers in which govt was directed to pay the arrears retrospectively with interest w.e.f. 1986. )

ORDERS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF  ENHANCEMENT OF PENSION(ESM)TO BE ISSUED BY THE END OF DEC 2012 & DISBURSEMENT ALONG WITH PENSION OF MARCH 2013
NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Wednesday took several decisions to ensure ex-servicemen get their pensions in time, stung by criticism over the huge delay in former NSG commando Surender Singh getting all his dues. Anti-graft crusader Arvind Kejriwal had raised the case of Singh, who was injured in the 26/11 terror attacks, last month, forcing the government to admit there had been a considerable delay since the soldier's retirement "paperwork'' had not been completed in time. 

At a meeting chaired by defence minister A K Antony, it was decided that 50% of the pension of soldiers who are "invalidated out" or are "war casualties" should be disbursed immediately, pending the completion of retirement/medical board formalities. It was also decided the Army and Navy should follow the IAF's example of the which has established " e-tracking process" to ensure pensions are disbursed in time. 

Antony also directed that orders for the recently announced Rs 2,300 crore pension package for ex-servicemen should be issued by this month-end. ``The minister said the disbursement of the enhanced pensions should begun by March 31,'' said an official. 

Minister of state for defence Jitendra Singh will also hold a meeting with different banks this month to bring "uniformity'' in the disbursement of pensions. Antony also asked his officers to ensure "faster disposal'' of decisions taken by the Armed Forces Tribunal. 

Ex-servicemen, however, still remain unhappy over the non-implementation of their long-standing demand for one rank, one pension mechanism, which has been promised by most political parties over the years but has never been implemented. 

The defence community of 14 lakh serving and 23 lakh retired military personnel, after all, swells into a sizable - albeit diffused - votebank of around 1.5 crore people if family members are also taken into account.

CHANDIGARH HIGH COURT LIC PENSIONERS CASE 

CWP No.16346 of 2010

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

*****

CWP No.16346 of 2010

Date of Decision: 09.11.2012

*****

Madan Lal Gandhi and others ………... . . .Petitioners

Versus

Union of India and others ……………. . . . Respondents

*****

CORAM: HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE A.K. SIKRI, CHIEF JUSTICE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR JAIN

*****

Present: Ms.Alka Chatrath, Advocate, ….for the petitioners.

Mr.Tarun Singla, Advocate, …..for respondent No.1.

Mr.B.R. Mahajan, Advocate, ….for respondents No.2 to 4.

*****

RAKESH KUMAR JAIN, J.

The petitioners are all retired Class I officers of Life Insurance Corporation of India (for short ‘the Corporation’), who have challenged the discrimination against employees retired between 1.1.1986 and 1.8.1997 while framing Rules with regard to grant of Dearness Relief to pensioners at par with in-service employees, up-gradation of pension and have prayed for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari forquashing order dated 3.6.2010 rejecting the claim of the petitioners for removal of anomaly in the matter of rate of Dearness Relief to the pensioners and Dearness Allowance to serving employees on the same amount of pension/salary and up-gradation of pension on pay revision and further prayed for issuance of writ in the nature of mandamus to implement the decision passed by the Corporation in its meeting of the Board of Directors dated 24.11.2001 and also for issuance of direction by way of mandamus for striking down the words “as on 1.8.1997” in clause (3) of Section 1 “Short title, commencement and application” in the notification dated 22.6.2000 and words “as on 1.8.2002” in Notification dated 5.9.2005 with consequential effects and for issuance of direction to fix pension of the petitioners as per the substitutedscales of pay equivalent to the stage applicable to them in the scrapped pay scale as on the date of their retirement and pay, pension at the rate of 50% of such basic pay as arrived at on and from 1.8.1997 and thereafter on and from 1.8.2002 with all consequential benefits with 12% interest. The petitioners have given a note in the index of the writ petition that a similar case i.e. CWP No.654 of 2007 titled as Krishna Murari Lal Asthana Vs. LIC of India and others was allowed by the Rajasthan High Court directing therespondent-Corporation to take a decision for implementation of the Resolution dated 24.11.2001 passed by the Board holding that the Corporation cannot provide different criteria for grant of Dearness Allowance to the existing pensioners based on cut off date i.e. 31.7.1997 and as such, the benefit arising out of the directions above would, however, be considered by the Corporation so that every retired employee may get the same benefit.

The text of the directions of the order in CWP No.654 of 2007 titled as Krishna Murari Lal Asthana Vs. LIC of India and others decided on 12.1.2010 by the Single

Judge of the Rajasthan High Court, attached as Annexure P-20 with the writ petition, is as under:

“In the facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the view that resolution passed by the Board of LIC does not need approval of the Central Government thus the Corporation may give effect to its resolution dated 24.11.2001 to avoid discrimination amongst existing pensioners. In light of the discussion madeabove, both the writ petitions are allowed. The respondent Corporation is directed to take a decision for implementation of the resolution dated 24.11.2011 passed by the Board. The respondent Corporation cannot provide different criteria for grant of dearness allowance to the existing pensioners based on cutoff date i.e. 31.7.1997. The benefit

arising out of the directions above would, however, be considered by the respondent corporation so thatevery retired employee may get the same benefit. Costs made easy.”

Learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the case of the petitioners is covered by the aforesaid judgment which has been further upheld by the Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court in D.B. Special Appeal (Writ) No.494 of 2010 titled as Life Insurance Corporation of India Vs. Krishna Murari Lal Asthana and others decided on 21.1.2011, with the following observations:

“We are of the view that whatever grievance with regard to the implementation of the Board’s resolution dated 24.11.2001 is concerned, the same can be raised by the Union of India who has chosen not to file any appeal in the matter and this can easily be considered as an approval of the said resolution of the Board dated 24.11.2001 which was allegedly pending for nine years. The Board of LIC, who is the appellant before us against the judgment of the learned Single Judge, had itself taken a decision to remove thedisparities and the discrimination with regard to the payment of Dearness Allowance and pension to the retired employees under its resolution of the Board dt. 24.11.2001, which was in public interest. It could not and should not have filed the present appeal against the judgment of the learned Single Judge as thelearned Single Judge has provided an umbrella to the appellant for the implementation of the decision ofthe Board dt. 24.11.2001 on the categorical statement made by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Union of India and not assailed in appeal by the Union of India. In the light of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the Union of India before the learned Single Judge, we find that these appeals filed by the L.I.C. of India have no merit and the same stand dismissed.”

Although counsel for the Corporation has submitted that SLP has been preferred against the aforesaidorder of the Division Bench but its operation has not been

stayed by the Apex Court. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, we are

of the considered opinion that since it is not in dispute that similar relief prayed for by the petitioners has been granted by the learned Single Judge of the Rajasthan High Court in the case of Krishna Murari Lal Asthana (Supra) which has been

maintained in appeal and the petitioners are satisfied with the same order, the present writ petition is thus, allowed, in terms of the order passed in the aforesaid case namely Krishna Murari Lal Asthana (Supra).

(A.K. SIKRI) (RAKESH KUMAR JAIN)

CHIEF JUSTICE JUDGE

NOVEMBER 09, 2012

COURTSY & SOURSE LINK:- http://airief-chd.blogspot.in/2012/11/chandigarh-high-court-case.html

REPORTS FROM VISHAL RALLY HELD AT JANTAR MANTAR NEW DELHI  ON 01 DEC 2012

Dear Colleagues,

The planned IESM rally was held at Jantar Mantar On December 01. We had advertised the rally widely and great hype had been built up.  Unfortunately the attendance of around 3000 was much below expectations. Thankfully, the enthusiasm of those present did overcome the lack of numbers to some extent.  As a policy of gradual escalation a vehicle with medals mounted on it has been prepared and is scheduled to go around Delhi and NCR during the coming days. The vehicle was parked on site and drew great appreciation from all. There were many enthusiastic speakers that took the mike and spoke their mind on government’s repeated stonewalling our demand of OROP. Unfortunately, this upset our time schedule and we had to call off our planned march – along with the medal vehicle – on roads around Connaught Place.   

On 02 December was the General Body meeting and the elections. There was no voting and all the old members of the Governing Body have been returned unopposed. Colonel KK Malhotra, Hony Captains Bhim Singh and Nagender Singh are the new members of the team. The General Body reaffirmed its resolve to continue with the struggle till our demands are met. 

The pension enhancement coming out of the of Rs 2300 Crore that the Govt has sanctioned is expected to be announced by 15 December 2012.  

Best regards,

Lt Gen Raj Kadyan
Chairman IESM
262, Sector - 17A
Gurgaon - 122 001

THE DOUBTFUL DISTRIBUTION

THE DOUBTFUL DISTRIBUTION OF RS.2300 CRORE SANCTIONED BY THE GOVT SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENHANCEMENT OF PENSION (PRE-2006 EX-SERVICE MEN)

It has been declared by the govt that an amount of  Rs. 2300 is sanctioned by the govt for  the enhancement of pension as recommended by the committee of secretaries & approved by the cabinet.There was another development in between& the govt was directed by the apex court to pay the amount due to officers in the rank pay case.The MOD is seems to have  included this out go also in the earlier sanctioned Rs.2300 crore to pre-2006 pensioners thus reducing the enhancement of pension to a megre amount. This is evident form the report submitted by the Rajya Sabha committee which has calculated the total outlay for implementation OROP in full with the help of department of expenditure as RS. 1300 crore.All members are requested to discuss this matter seriously.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2012

Decision on 'one rank one pension' scheme will be queried in Rajya Sabha

Some important questions are scheduled for written answer to be given by MoD on 05th December, 2012 regarding One Rank One Pension.  An unstarred question number 1296 also wants clarification from govt about proposal to give full 'One Rank One Pension.  The details of question are given below:- 

RAJYA SABHA

List of Questions for WRITTEN ANSWERS to be asked at a sitting of the 

Rajya Sabha to be held on

Wednesday, December 5, 2012/Agrahayana 14, 1934 (Saka)

Decision on 'one rank one pension' scheme

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:

1296. SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR:
SHRI HUSAIN DALWAI:

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) how Government proposes to give full 'one rank one pension'?

(a) whether Government has taken any decision regarding the demand of 'one rank one pension' for the ex-servicemen;

COURTESY:-       http://karnmk.blogspot.in/

http://164.100.47.5/EDAILYQUESTIONS/sessionno/227/3536RS.pdf