MONOJENDRA CHAKRABORTY Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioners have prayed for issuance of a mandamus commanding the respondents to allow them to opt for the pension scheme in terms of the Calcutta Tramways Co. (1978) Ltd. Employees Pension Regulations, 2001.

(2.) The petitioners claim that while they were in service, the Government of West Bengal, with the approval of the Department of Finance, introduced a pension scheme for the employees of the Calcutta Tramways Company (1978) Ltd. now known as West Bengal Transport Corporation Ltd. The petitioners further claim that the employees were given the option to switch over to the pension scheme. The petitioners state that the Managing Director of Calcutta Tramways Co. (1978) Ltd. (for short 'CTC') issued a Circular dtd. 24/7/2006 (wrongly mentioned as 24/7/2007) giving an opportunity to the employees who may prefer to come under the purview of the pension scheme to exercise their option within 31/7/2006. The said circular dtd. 24/7/2006 was followed by an advertisement published in the Ananda Bazar Patrika on 25/7/2006. By the said publication all the retired employees or the widows of the retired employees who expired on or after 2/4/1997 were given the final opportunity to exercise their option to avail the benefits of the pension scheme. The petitioners submitted a representation which was received by the office of the CTC on 18/12/2019 requesting the authorities to allow each of them to switch over to the pension scheme after necessary adjustments. Alleging inaction on the part of the respondent authorites, the writ petitioners have approached this Court.

(3.) Sardar Amjad Ali, learned Senior counsel representing the petitioners contended that fixation of cut-off date for exercising option to switch over to the pension scheme resulted in creation of two groups i.e., optee and non-optee of pension which is contrary to the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of D.S.Nakara vs. Union of India reported at (1983) 1 SCC 305. He further submitted that the respondent authorities have illegally denied the benefits of the pension scheme to those employees who did not exercise their options within the cut-off date. Mr. Ali further contended that the issuance of the circular thereby extending the last date for exercising the option to switch over to the pension scheme within 31/7/2006 and the subsequent publication made in the Bengali Daily, Ananda Bazar Patrika on 25/7/2006 cannot in any event be said to be an effective circulation as the last date for the exercising such option was 31/7/2006. In other words, according to Mr. Ali sufficient time was not given to the petitioners to exercise their option pursuant to the notification published on 25/7/2006. Mr. Ali also relied upon an unreported decision of a Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court in FMA 470 of 2021 in the case of State of West Bengal and ors. vs. Kamala Kanta Jana and ors. delivered on 5/5/2022.