PEPSU ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION, PATIALA versus MANGAL SINGH AND ORS.

Citation: [2011] 6 S.C.R. 564 · Decided: 12-05-2011 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: D.K. JAIN · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 3 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
[2011] 6 S.C.R. 564 
PEPSU ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION, PATIALA 
v. 
MANGAL SINGH AND ORS. 
(Civil Appeal No. 4111 of 2008) 
MAY 12, 2011 
[D.K. JAIN AND H.L. DATTU, JJ.] 
Pension: 
c 
Regulations made under a statute laying down the terms 
and conditions of service of employees which governed the 
Pension Scheme - Non-compliance of - Entitlement of 
employees to claim benefit under the Pension Scheme -
Held: Failure on the part of the employees to opt for the 
D Pension Scheme and/or refund the advance taken from the 
employer's contribution of C. P. F. as envisaged in the 
Regulations would disentitle them from claiming any benefit 
under the Pension Scheme -
Pepsu Road Transport 
Corporation Employee Pension/Gratuity and General 
E Provident Fund Regulations, 1992 - Regulations 3, 4 -
Service law. 
Regulations made under the statute laying down the 
terms and conditions of service of employees, including the 
grant of retirement benefits - Binding effect of - Held: 
F Regulations validly made under statutory powers are binding 
and effective as the enactment of the competent legislature 
- Any action or order in breach of the terms and conditions 
of the Regulations shall amount to violation of Regulations 
which are in the nature of statutory provisions and shall render 
G such action or order illegal and invalid. 
H 
Pension and Contributory Provident Fund - Difference 
between the two concepts - Discussed. 
564 
PEPSU ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION, 
PATIALA v. MANGAL SINGH 
Notice: 
565 
lndivjdual notice - Option to choose retirement benefits 
A 
- Not exercised - Plea of the respondents that option was not 
exercised for want of knowledge for non,..service of individual 
notices - Pension Scheme not providing for serving 8 
individual notices on the employees - Held: In view of 
absence of such condition in the scheme, it was not 
necessary for the Corporation to give an individual notice to 
respondents for exercising of option for pension Scheme and 
a/so for asking respondent to refund the employers 
contribution of C.P.F. at each stage - Even otherwise, when C 
notice or knowledge of the Pension Scheme can be 
reasonably inferred or gathered from the conduct of the 
respondents in their ordinary course of business and from 
surrounding circumstances, then, it will constitute a sufficient 
notice in the eyes of law. 
D 
By virtue of Pepsu Road Transport Corporation 
Employee Pension/Gratuity and General Provident Fund 
Regulations, 1992, if an employee .of the appellant-
Corporation fails to exercise his option for the Pension 
E 
Scheme within a period of 6 months from the date of· 
issue of the Regulations and secondly, even on exercise 
of option, if an employee fails to refund the amount of 
advance taken from employers contribution of the C.P.F. 
within 6 months from the date of issue of the Regulations, 
F 
then it shall be deemed that employee had opted to 
continue for the existing C.P .F. benefit. 
In the instant case, the respondents were the 
employees of the appellant-Corporation. The issue which 
arose for consideration in these appeals was whether the 
G 
respondents were eligible to claim pensionary benefits 
under the Pension Scheme inspite of the non-compliance 
of the essential conditions stipulated in the Regulations 
of 1992 which governed the said Pension Scheme. 
H 
~-
,•- -· 
566. 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS_: .. (2011) 6 S.C.R. 
A . 
Allowing the appeals, the Court 
HELD: 1.1. The Pepsu Road Transport Corporation 
was constituted in terms of the provisions .of the Road . 
·.Transport Corporations Act, 1950: By reason of the 
8 provisions of Section 4 thereof, each Corporation is a . 
body corporate having perpetual succession and a . 
common seal and can, in its own name, sue and be sued. 
Section 45 of the 1950 Act authorises the Corporation to 
frame Regulations for the administration of the affairs of 
C the Corporation. The Regulations provide for the grant of 
retirement benefits to the employees of the PEPSU Road 
lransport Corporation with effect from 15.06.1992. [Paras 
12, 13, 14] [578-D-E; 579-D] 
1.2. It is well settled law that the Regulations made 
D under the statute laying down the terms and conditions 
of service of employees, including the grant of retirement ·· 
benefits has the force of law. The Regulations validly ·· 
made under statutory powers .are binding and .effective 
· ·· as the enactment of the compttent legislature. The · 
E statutory bodies as well as gene

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