Forwarded just for information;
A lawsuit that outlived its petitioners!
This was no ordinary lawsuit.
It was the last hope for those who had dedicated their youth to the banks,
and in their old age, only asked for a pension —
*not charity, but their rightful due.*
*The pension scheme was introduced in 1995.*
Back then, it was said — *“Now old age is secure.”*
But no one mentioned that this security would remain stagnant,
that the pension would be like frozen water —
time would change, inflation would rise, medicines would become expensive,
but the pension… the pension would not change.
*Then the lawsuit began.*
It reached the Supreme Court.
It was said — “Justice will be served.”
But the clock of justice showed a different time.
The case dragged on…
Hearings were postponed…
Date after date,
and between each date,
a petitioner would die.
*Today, the situation is that almost all the petitioners in this case have died.*
One is perhaps still alive —
or maybe by the next hearing, even he
will be listed as “deceased.”
*And the court will open the file and ask:*
“Are the parties present?”
*What kind of justice is this?*
This is a case where
the issue is alive,
the arguments are alive,
the lawyers are alive,
but those for whom everything was intended —
they are dead.
What kind of justice is this where
the judgment comes so late that
there is no one left to hear it?
It is said —
“There may be delay in law, but not injustice.”
But here, the delay itself became the injustice.
The irony is that the system is still confident.
The court will say —
“Legal heirs are present,
they will receive the relief.”
But the question is —
since when did a pension become an inheritable asset? *The pension was meant for that old man*
who stood in line outside the hospital,
it was for that widow
who meticulously calculated her monthly EMI and medication costs,
it was for that elderly person
who wanted to live with dignity.
Even if the heirs receive the money,
it won't bring back the life
that was lost in waiting.
*A cruel reality*
The pension scheme was discontinued after 2010.
This means:
No new pensioners will be added,
the existing ones are dwindling every day,
and the lawsuit... is still ongoing.
*It seems the system has adopted a strategy —*
“Let the lawsuit drag on, the petitioners will die out on their own.”
This is not justice,
this is a denial of justice through delay.
What will history record?
*History will record that in India there was a lawsuit whose all the parties had died before the verdict was delivered.*
And then the question will be asked:
For whom was the justice?
For the living, or for the files?
If justice arrives so late
that it can only be placed on graves,
then it is not called justice —
it is called institutional failure.
Finally, a bitter question:
When the last pensioner is gone,
and the verdict is delivered,
to whom will the court say:
“You have won.”
Perhaps then it will be understood that
the greatest defeat of justice
is not injustice —
it is indifference.
- Kamlesh Chaturvedi
(𝗪𝗲 Bankers)