The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : High Court asks bank to remit compensation into calamity relief fund

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 05, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

High Court asks bank to remit compensation into calamity relief fund

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JAN. 4. The UCO Bank was today directed by a Division Bench of the Madras High Court to remit Rs.1-lakh compensation into the Tamil Nadu Government's Calamity Relief Fund.

The Bench comprising Justice M. Karpagavinayagam and Justice A.R. Ramalingam was passing orders on a contempt petition preferred against the bank by its employee, V. Ramesh.

The petitioner was terminated from service in June 1998. Allowing his writ petition against the order, a single judge held in December 1998 that he was entitled to reinstatement with continuity of service and attendant benefits. A Bench confirmed the single judge order in September 2003. Mr. Ramesh issued a legal notice in October 2003 stating that he was yet to be reinstated despite a court order. The present petition came to be filed as there was no response to the legal notice as well.

However, denying that there was any contempt, the then zonal manager Deepak Ramrakhiani, filed an affidavit stating Mr. Ramesh was reinstated in service in March 2004 and that in July he was given a promotion with retrospective effect.

In their order, the judges said, "it cannot be contended now that the earlier order has not been complied with. The only thing which is noticed in this case is that there is some delay in issuing the letter of confirmation and release of promotion." Making it clear that the court was not inclined to go into whether the promotion was done properly or not, the Bench ruled, "this court does not find any ground to hold that there is contempt."

As for the "unexplained delay between September 2003 and July 2004" in complying with the order, the judges gave an "option" to the bank's counsel that it could make some payment as cost to the petitioner or pay some amount as donation to the Calamity Relief Fund of the State Government. Counsel "graciously" requested the court to permit him to pay Rs. 1 lakh towards the relief fund, for which Mr. Ramesh had no objection. The Bench directed the bank to pay the sum within two weeks.

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