Delegated power limits on gratuity rules: incidental authority under pay regulations cannot alter a separate retirement benefit.

Regulation 51(2) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Regulations, 1960 authorises the Chairman only to regulate fixation of revised pay, the date of revision, eligibility, and connected incidental matters within Chapter IV. Gratuity is separately governed by Regulation 77 in Chapter VII, so the incidental power under Regulation 51(2) cannot be extended to fix cut-off dates that alter gratuity. A delegated authority must remain within the scope of the enabling provision, and a distinct statutory retirement benefit cannot be curtailed through instructions issued under a provision concerned with pay and allowances.

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Issues: Whether the Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation could, under Regulation 51(2) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Regulations, 1960, fix cut-off dates affecting gratuity payable under Regulation 77.

Analysis: Regulation 51(2) empowers the Chairman to regulate the method of fixation of pay in revised scales, the eligibility for revision, the date from which revision applies, and matters connected or incidental thereto. That power is confined to Chapter IV dealing with pay, dearness allowance, and other allowances. Gratuity is governed separately by Regulation 77 in Chapter VII and is not part of the subject-matter of Regulation 51. The expression "incidental thereto" cannot be stretched to authorise alteration of a distinct statutory benefit falling outside the scope of the enabling provision. A statutory delegate must act within the four corners of the conferral of power, and a beneficial retirement benefit cannot be curtailed by instructions issued under a provision not intended to govern it.

Conclusion: The Chairman had no jurisdiction under Regulation 51(2) to issue instructions fixing cut-off dates so as to affect gratuity under Regulation 77. The challenge to the instructions fails.

Ratio Decidendi: Incidental powers under a delegated provision are confined to matters subsidiary to the principal subject conferred by that provision and cannot be used to regulate a separate statutory benefit governed by an independent rule.

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