V.SUGUMARAN Vs. U.UMA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The contempt petition may be completely out of place, notwithstanding the apparent prejudice suffered by the petitioners.

(2.) The matter pertains to the entitlement of the petitioners to receive gratuity. The petitioners obtained an order in their favour from the writ court. From the order dated September 16, 2019 passed on W.P.No.9014 of 2017, W.A.No.378 of 2020 was carried to a Division Bench. The order impugned was not interfered with, but it was noticed by the Division Bench in its order of July 24, 2020 that an appeal filed by the management was pending. Accordingly, despite not interfering with the order impugned in the relevant appeal, the Division Bench directed the appellate authority to dispose of the appeal as expeditiously as possible. The issue of maintainability of the appeal was also directed to be gone into.

(3.) The grievance of the petitioners is that the gratuity due to them has not yet been released. It is the further contention of the petitioners that the management abandoned the earlier appeal and purported to file a fresh appeal. It is the pendency of the subsequent appeal that now stands in the way of the gratuity due to the petitioners being released to them.