RESHAM DEVI Vs. VIJAYA BANK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is the wife of late Shri Ram Phal, who was working as an Armed Guard in the respondents/Bank and she has filed the present petition praying inter alia for issuance of directions to the respondents/Bank to grant compassionate appointment to her son upon her husband's demise, and in the alternate, to release ex gratia payment in lieu of the aforesaid relief and further, to permit her and her family members to participate in the pension scheme floated by the respondents/Bank.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the facts of the case are that Shri Ram Phal was working on the post of Armed Guard in the respondents/Bank with effect from the year 1993. After rendering service for sixteen years with the respondent/Bank, he had died in harness on 18.05.2009, having suffered a heart attack while on duty. On the very same day, the respondents/Bank had issued a letter to the petitioner informing her of the Bank's Scheme for payment of ex gratia relief in lieu of appointment on compassionate grounds that is applicable to the dependents of the deceased employees. It is an admitted position that the petitioner had received the aforesaid letter alongwith the form that was required to be filled up by her and submitted to the Bank within six months from the date of Shri Ram Phal's demise, in order to claim the benefit under the aforesaid Scheme. However, she failed to submit the said form to the respondents/Bank within the prescribed timeline.

(3.) AFTER the passage one and a half year from the date of her husband's demise, on 01.11.2010, the petitioner had submitted an application to the respondent/Bank, seeking appointment of her son on compassionate grounds or for payment of ex gratia relief in lieu thereof. In the meantime, the respondents/Bank had introduced a Pension Scheme, without any budgetary support. The terms and conditions of the said Scheme stipulated that the family members of the employees, who were in service of the Bank prior to 02.09.1995, but had died in harness while in service after that date but prior to 27.04.2010, were also eligible to exercise their option in writing of becoming member of the pension fund within a period of sixty days from the date of the offer and within thirty days after the expiry of sixty days, they were required to refund the entire amount of the Bank's contribution to the Provident Fund and interest accrued thereon as may have been received by the employee on retirement, together with his share in the contribution, for meeting 30% of the estimated funding gap for those eligible under the said Scheme. In other words, the respondents/Bank required an applicant to pay 56% of the amount over and above the Bank's contribution to the Provident Fund and the interest thereon received by an employee on retirement, for being eligible to claim benefits under the said Scheme.