The Madras High Court Bench here has warned the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) against delayed filing of almost every other writ appeal challenging single judges’ orders to disburse terminal benefits to its retired employees along with a petition to condone the delay. Hearing a petition to condone a delay of over 100 days in filing a writ appeal, a Division Bench of Justices Nooty Ramamohana Rao and S.S. Sundar said they would be constrained to summon top corporation officials to the court and seek explanation from them if the trend continued.
When TNSTC counsel stated that the delay was due to getting approval from the Board of Directors, Mr. Justice Rao retorted:
“Whom are you trying to fool? The Board of Directors is meant only to give policy guidelines. Do you need its approval even to file appeals? Let this be the last time you file an appeal with delay.”
The present appeal as well as the petition to condone the delay was filed by the Managing Director and General Manager of TNSTC, Madurai Region, against an order passed by a single judge of the High Court on December 16.
The appellants were aggrieved against the judge’s “erroneous” order quashing disciplinary proceedings initiated against a bus conductor just five days before he reached the age of superannuation on June 30, 2015. He had also directed TNSTC to settle the conductor’s retirement benefits in 12 equated monthly instalments with six per cent interest.
Assailing the order, the appellants said disciplinary proceedings were initiated for dereliction of duty, which led to death of a 70 year old passenger at Ellis Nagar here on June 22, 2015 when the latter attempted to board a bus.
The conductor had asked the driver to move the bus before the elderly passenger could get in to the vehicle. Pointing out that terminal benefits could not be settled since the conductor was allowed to retire from service without prejudice to the disciplinary proceedings, the appellants claimed that it would not be in the interest of the corporation to condone such a grave misconduct.
Further, pointing out TNSTC buses were involved in 9,883 accidents between 2005, 06 and 2014 15 in Madurai region alone, and 1,740 of those accidents led to the death of 1,969 people, the appellants said the mishaps were caused due to negligence of the bus crew.
Compensation a liability
“A large number of motor accident claim cases are filed due to the accidents and the liability of compensation to be settled is very high... In view of acute shortage of funds, the TNSTC is unable to satisfy the award amounts even after attachment of buses. The appellants had released 532 buses by depositing Rs.27.68 crore between April 2015 and June 2016,” they claimed.
Warns it will summon top TNSTC officials
to seek explanation
if the trend
continues
