Hearing on September 15
Dimapur, September 8 (MExN): Guwahati High Court has scheduled September 15 as the date of hearing for the writ petition against the Nagaland Retirement from Public Service Bill 2009. The high court has directed the government of Nagaland to furnish “para-wise comments” latest by September 7.
This information was disclosed in a statement issued by the Nagaland Senior Government Employees’ Welfare Association, in response to remarks said to have been made by Nagaland’s Chief Secretary Lalthara. The association quoted him as saying that he saw ‘no possibility of the bill being put on hold despite pressure from various unions.’ He also said that the P&AR department has issued orders on August 7 to release all retiring officials who have completed 35 years of continuous service, the NSGEWA stated.
“The chief secretary was well-aware that when the Nagaland Retirement from Public Service (2nd amendment) Bill 2009 was passed, the NSGEWA had taken it to the law court challenging the constitutional validity of the bill. The honorable Guhati High Court (division bench) has admitted our writ petition, directed the Nagaland government to furnish para-wise comments, file affidavit etc., latest by September 7 and the hearing has been fixed on the 15th of September 2009,” the NSGEWA explained.
The association also recalled that a similar case was filed by the CANSSEA against the government’s bill in 1993 and the court had passed judgment protecting the constitutional rights of government employees. Reacting to Lalthara’s remarks, the association said it was “as if the chief secretary is trying to bulldoze all the court proceedings together with the rights of association.”
The association termed his remarks as “a malicious intention” to create “unwarranted panic and fear psychosis” in the minds of thousands of senior government employees, their families and relatives.
The association reminded here that under the new retirement bill of the government, no grade-IV staff could attain the superannuation age of 60 years as the bill is affecting mostly the lower grade employees. “Just in November 2007, the Nagaland government has enhanced the superannuation age of her employees from 57 years to 60 years; accordingly many had planned their retirement, availed loans etc., by anticipating that they could serve the government for three more years,” the association said.
