Supreme Court today directed HMT Ltd to disburse 55 per cent of the arrears payable to its former employees from January 1, 1992 to March 31, 1995 within three months. The balance shall be disbursed in three equal annual instalments before 2007.
The Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka high courts had ordered the ailing company to pay the whole amount immediately following the settlement of 1995.
A bench consisting of Justice K G Balakrishnan and B N Sririshna stated that the two high courts were not justified in directing full disbursement of the arrears in one go.
"We are conscious of the fact that there has been improvement in the financial performance of the compay, but at the same time, we are also not satisfied that the financial performance had improved to such an extent that the entire liability needs to be discharged at one go," the judgment said.