SHITLA SHARAN SRIVASTAVA Vs. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners in the first writ petition are the individual pensioners and the petitioners in the second writ petition are associations representing the pensioners. Facts giving rise to the filing of the writ petitions and the questions of law raised are similar.

(2.) The petitioners in these writ petitions have sought for a declaration that the employees of the State Bank of India are entitled to enhanced gratuity of Rs. 2.50 lakhs with effect from 1-4-1995 and Rs.3.50 lakhs with effect from 1-1-1996, and for direction to the respondent-State Bank of India to give enhanced gratuity amount to the retired employees with interest.

(3.) The basis for their claim is the recommendation of the 5th Pay Commission, the speech made by Union Finance Minister while presenting the Central Government Budget for the year 1997-98 and the Central Government and other several Government sector undertakings giving revised ceiling on gratuity with effect from 1-4-1995 and 1-1-1996. The claim for payment of enhanced gratuity amount is made by the employees who retired prior to 24-9-1997. The respondents contested the claim of the petitioners stating that the petitioners were entitled to payment of gratuity as provided under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (for short 'the Act'). Prior to 24-9-1997, the ceiling on madmum amount of gratuity payable under the Act was Rs. 1 lakh; the question of enhancing this ceiling to Rs. 2.50 lakhs was considered and decided to amend the Act accordingly. The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 1997 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 24-7-1997; since passing of the bill was taking time, in the interest of workers a Presidential Ordinance was promulgated and the ceiling on maximum amount of gratuity was enhanced from Rs. 1 lakh to 2. 5 lakhs with effect from 24-9-1997. However, the Standing Committee of Parliament on Labour and Welfare after examining the provisions of the said Bill and Ordinance recommended that the ceiling limit on gratuity should be raised from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 3.5 lakhs. Accepting the said recommendation, the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 1998 was passed by the Parliament which was made effective from 24-9-1997 and that the Act does not provide for giving effect from the date prior to 24-9-1997. Government servants and industrial workers are governed by different set of rules. Further even the rules of different undertakings governing service conditions may be/ are different. The recommendations of the 5th Pay Commission are applicable to Government servants only and not to the industrial workers including the petitioners who were the bank employees. Under Section 4(5) of the Act, there is no bar or prohibition for an employee to receive better terms of gratuity under any award or agreement or contract with the employer. Employees in Government service and even among the employees of different Government undertakings have varying financial advantages or other service conditions. Some may be more advantageous in one undertaking, the other conditions may be more advantageous in other undertakings. All the employees of the respondent-Bank who have retired before 24-9-1997 have been paid and have accepted the gratuity in terms of the Act. The answering respondent-Bank has also framed a scheme for compassionate gratuity which may be higher than that is payable under the Act. The officers who are governed by the pension rules like the petitioners are paid gratuity only in terms of the Act and hence the ceiling and effective date of revision in gratuity has to be only as per the Act as amended from time to time. Meeting the averment of the petitioners that the employees of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) /IDBI are getting enhanced gratuity, it is stated that the employees of RBI/IDBI are governed by different set of service rules. The employees of RBI are entitled to either pension or Contributory Provident Fund. In addition, gratuity is payable in terms of RBI Gratuity Fund Rules. However, the answering respondent-Bank, being an independent statutory body, has its own rules. Its employees are entitled for the following benefits at the time of retirement :-