BRANCH MANAGER LIC OF INDIA Vs. K MAHESHWARAPPA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Branch Manager, LIC of India has preferred this appeal calling in question the judgment of the lower appellate Court by which the dismissal of the suit filed by the respondent/plaintiff was set aside and the suit was decreed and permanent injunction was granted restraining the Branch Manager, LIC and the Divisional Manager, LIC from recovering the rural incentive bonus paid to the respondent/plaintiff for the period from September, 1994 to August, 1997. Aggrieved by the reversal of the trial Court's judgment by the lower appellate Court, the first defendant Branch Manager has come up in this second appeal.

(2.) THE facts briefly are that the respon-dent/plaintiff was working as a Development Officer of the LIC of India at its branch at Chitradurga and as per the Incentive Bonus Scheme 1997 ('the scheme 1997' for short), the Development Officer was paid 10% of the basic incentive bonus in accordance with the aforesaid scheme and subsequently, during audit which was conducted, an objection was raised for having paid incentive bonus to the respondent/plaintiff and following this observation, the plaintiff was issued a notice as to why the incentive bonus paid to him should not be recovered from him. This prompted the plaintiff to approach the trial Court for an order of injunction against the defendants from recovering the incentive bonus paid to him.

(3.) THE trial Court dismissed the suit of the plaintiff and in doing so, the trial Court held that as the plaintiff was also working as divisional Officer at a place where the population exceeded one lakh, the plaintiff is not eligible for the aforesaid bonus benefit. In arriving at this conclusion, the trial Court also recorded its finding that as per the Census Report of 1991, Chitradurge Urban Agglomeration consists of three places namely Chitradurga, Kelagote and Medehalli villages and as the total population of all three places put together exceeded one lakh, the trial Court held that the plaintiff was not eligible for the incentive bonus.