SUNIL KUMAR GANGULY Vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The short question involved in this writ application is, whether the petitioners are entitled to exemption of tax for compensation to the extent of Rs.5 lakhs under the Optional Early Retirement Scheme introduced by the Reserve Bank of India for voluntary retirement of its employees.

(2.) The petitioners are all ex-employees of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). On or about 11th August, 2003, RBI introduced an Optional Early Retirement Scheme, hereinafter referred to as the OERS, under which employees who had completed 25 years of full-time regular service and had also completed 50 years of age as on 1st August, 2003 were given the option to take voluntary retirement.

(3.) The terms and conditions on which the petitioners were offered voluntary retirement under the OERS are extracted hereinbelow for convenience: