I had retired from a public sector bank. When I was in service I conducted some vigilance investigations. It is already 1 year 3 months since I retired. The Bank sends me notices to attend the inquiries as Management Witness (MW) in these cases. I have been attending the inquiries. IAs are paid a reasonable amount of Rs.25000/- per inquiry. Now they pay me only the daily allowance for the days I am in the inquiry for my maintenance at the place of inquiry. As I am attending a number of Inquiries as MW, recently I had requested for payment of a reasonable amount for me also on the lines they are paying to the IAs. However, there is no reply from them so far. When I sought postponement of the inquiry recently they had issued me a show cause notice saying why it should not be viewed as breach of good conduct as is expected of a pensioner, under Pension Regulations. However, I attended a number of inquiries all over the country sacrificing my convenience and putting off my personal and family obligations and I am not able to find an alternative source of income post-retirement because of attending the inquiries. It is to be noted that there were instances when the Management Witness was substituted by another serving employee, when the MW was not available. So there is a precedence. Now my questions are:
1. Is the Management justified in compelling me to attend the inquiries as MW even after more than one year of my retirement, more so when there is no pre-condition in the retirement terms?
2. Am I justified in refusing to attend the inquiries pleading personal and domestic preoccupations and wastage of my productive time?
3. Am I justified in seeking payment of remuneration for my services on the lines of payment made to Inquiring Authoritiess?
4. Can I seek intervention of Court in the matter of payment of reasonable remuneration or refusal to attend the inquiries?
5. Is my request in seeking postponement of dates or refusal to attend inquiries, a breach of future good conduct under Pension Regulations of Banks?
Regards
Sri Krishna
