TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2011 (2) TMI 1372
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.... 4) The factual matrix in brief is as under : The appellant was appointed as a Clerk in the Nainital Branch of the Allahabad Bank, the respondent herein, on 21.02.1976. Subsequently, the appellant was promoted to the post of JMG-Scale-I Officer Grade on 02.05.1983. The services of the appellant, after promotion, were governed by the 1979 Regulations. The Regulation 46 of 1979 Regulations provides retirees an option of gratuity or pension in lieu thereof, and further, the pension benefits for the retirees opting for pension are available under the Old Pension Scheme. Pursuant to the Tripartite Memorandum of Settlement [hereinafter referred to as "the Tripartite Settlement"], among the management, workers and officers of the various banks dated 29.10.1993, the respondent formulated a draft/proposed Allahabad Bank Employees (Pension) Regulation 1993 [hereinafter referred to as "the draft/proposed 1993 Regulations"] vide Instruction Circular no. 3904 dated 06.09.1994. The draft/proposed 1993 Regulations provided the option to the employees, who were on the rolls of the Bank as on 31.10.1993, to opt for pension as per the Old Pension Scheme plus Contributory Provident Fund [herei....
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....eme and the same was rejected in terms of Regulation 46 of the 1979 Regulations. The appellant further made representations before the Chairman and Managing Director of the respondent vide letters dated 16.08.2006 and 19.03.2007, which were rejected by the Assistant General Manager vide letter dated 05.04.2007 on the ground that the appellant was not eligible to claim pension under the Old Pension Scheme in terms of the 1979 Regulations. Being aggrieved, the appellant approached the High Court of Uttarakhand by filing a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and the same was partly allowed by the judgment and order dated 25.02.2009, wherein the High Court directed the respondent to pay gratuity to the appellant as per Regulation 46(2) of the 1979 Regulations after adjusting the amount of gratuity already paid to the appellant in terms of Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. The appellant, aggrieved by the Judgment and Order of the High Court in Writ Petition, filed a Review Application, which was rejected vide Order dated 31.03.2009. Aggrieved by these Orders, the appellant is before us in these appeals. 5) We have heard Shri Sudhir Kumar Consul, the appellan....
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....in terms of the said Regulation 46 (1). Hence, the appellant cannot claim any pensionary benefit under the Old Pension Scheme. In response to appellant's alternative submissions, the learned counsel for the respondent submits that Section 12 (2) of the Banking Act was introduced in 1970 after nationalization of the Banks. Section 12 (2) of the Banking Act cannot be invoked by appellant as Regulation 46 of the 1979 Regulations was introduced on 01.07.1979 only for officers whereas the appellant became officer only in 1983 by way of promotion. In other words, the appellant, being a Clerk at the relevant time when the said Regulation 46 was introduced as applicable to officers, cannot challenge its vires on the touchstone of Section 12 (2) of the Banking Act. The learned counsel further submits that the Regulation 46 (1) of 1979 Regulations is in harmony with Article 14 of the Constitution of India. 8) We have carefully considered the rival submissions of the appellant in person and the learned counsel for the respondent- Bank. In our opinion, the appellant is not entitled to claim pensionary benefit in view of Regulation 46 (1) of the 1979 Regulations. The said Regulation ....
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....to be a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution, frames a scheme for persons who have superannuated from service, due to many constraints, it is not always possible to extend the same benefits to one and all, irrespective of the dates of superannuation. As such any revised scheme in respect of post-retirement benefits, if implemented with a cut-off date, which can be held to be reasonable and rational in the light of Article 14 of the Constitution, need not be held to be invalid. It shall not amount to "picking out a date from the hat", as was said by this Court in the case of D.R. Nim v. Union of India, (1967) 2 SCR 325, in connection with fixation of seniority. Whenever a revision takes place, a cut-off date becomes imperative because the benefit has to be allowed within the financial resources available with the Government." The Court further observed: "14...No scheme can be held to be foolproof, so as to cover and keep in view all persons who were at one time in active service. As such the concern of the court should only be, while examining any such grievance, to see, as to whether a particular date for extending a particular benefit or scheme, has b....
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....a Reserve Bank Retired Officers' Association v. Union of India, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 664, the Retired Officers' Association of the Reserve Bank of India questioned the validity of introduction of pension scheme in lieu of Contributory Provident Fund Scheme. The bank employees, who retired prior to 01.01.1986, had not been given benefit of the said Pension Scheme. This Court held that the said cut-off date was neither arbitrary nor artificial or whimsical. It was further observed: "10. ... The underlying principle is that when the State decides to revise and liberalise an existing pension scheme with a view to augmenting the social security cover granted to pensioners, it cannot ordinarily grant the benefit to a Section of the pensioners and deny the same to others by drawing an artificial cut-off line which cannot be justified on rational grounds and is wholly unconnected with the object intended to be achieved. But when an employer introduces an entirely new scheme which has no connection with the existing scheme, different considerations enter the decision making process. One such consideration may be the financial implications of the scheme and the extent of capacity....
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....ambit of that decision cannot be enlarged to cover all claim by retirees or a demand for an identical amount of pension to every retiree, irrespective of the date of retirement even though the emoluments for the purpose of computation of pension be different. We need not cite other subsequent decisions which have also distinguished Nakara case (1983) 1 SCC 305. The latest decision is in the case of K.L. Rathee v. Union of India (1997) 6 SCC 7 where this Court, after referring to various judgments of this Court, has held that Nakara case (1983) 1 SCC 305 cannot be interpreted to mean that emoluments of persons who retired after a notified date holding the same status, must be treated to be the same. The respondents are not entitled to claim benefits which became available at a much later date to retiring employees by reason of changes in the rules relating to pensionary benefits." 17) In State of Punjab v. J.L. Gupta, (2000) 3 SCC 736, this Court reiterating the views expressed in Boota Singh (supra), held: "5. The controversy involved in the present appeal and connected appeals is squarely covered by the afo....