SUDHIR KUMAR CONSUL versus ALLAHABAD BANK

Citation: [2011] 2 S.C.R. 1119 · Decided: 21-02-2011 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: D.K. JAIN · Disposal: Dismissed

Judgment (excerpt)

[2011) 2 S.C.R. 1119 
SUDHIR KUMAR CONSUL 
v. 
ALLAHABAD BANK 
(Civil Appeal No. 1982-83 of 2011) 
FEBRUARY 21, 2011 
[D.K. JAIN AND H.L.DATIU, JJ.] 
Allahabad Bank Officers Service Regulations, 1979: 
Object of the Act - Discussed. 
Regulation 46 - Pension under Old Pension Scheme -
Appellant working as clerk as on 1. 7. 1979 and promoted as 
A 
B 
c 
an officer in 1983 - Claim for pension under the Old Pension 
Scheme - Held: By virtue of Regulation 46 (1), pension in lieu 0 
of gratuity was available only to the officers appointed prior 
to or on 01.07.1979 and not to officers appointed; recruited 
or promoted thereafter - Therefore, appellant was not eligible 
to claim any benefit under the Old Pension Scheme - Service 
law - Pension. 
Constitution of India, 1950: 
E 
Article 14 - Fixing of cut-off date for granting retirement 
benefits such as gratuity or pension - By virtue of Regulation 
46(1) of Allahabad Bank Officers Service Regulations, 1979, 
benefit of pension in lieu of gratuity available only to the 
F 
officers appointed prior to or on 01.07.1979 and not to officers 
appointed, recruited or promoted thereafter- Reasonableness 
of such differentiation - Held: Fixing of cut-off date, thereby, 
creating two distinct and separate classes of employees is 
reasonable and not offend Article 14 - Allahabad Bank G 
Officers Service Regulations, 1979 - Regulation 46(1). 
Administrative law: 
1119 
H 
1120 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[20111 2 S.C.R. 
A 
Subordinate legislation - Legality of - Held: Can be 
challenged on the ground that it is arbitrary, unreasonable and 
offends Article 14 of the Constitution - Constitution of India, 
1950 - Article 14. 
8 
The appellant was appointed as a clerk in 
respondent bank on 21.02.1976. He was promoted to the 
post of JMG scale I Officer Grade on 02.05.1983. The 
services of the appellant, after promotion were governed 
by the Allahabad Bank Officers Service Regulations, 
C 1979. The appellant applied for the voluntary retirement 
pursuant to the Allahabad Bank Employees Voluntary 
Retirement Scheme, 2000 which was accepted on 
12.04.2001 and the appellant stood relieved from the 
services of the Bank on 30.04.2001. After retirement, the 
appellant was offered gratuity under the Payment of 
D Gratuity Act, 1972 by the respondent which the appellant 
declined to accept. The appellant made a request to the 
competent authority for sanction of pension in lieu of 
gratuity, but his request was rejected as not maintainable 
on the ground that an officer employed or appointed after 
E 01.07.1079 was ineligible for pension under the Old 
Pension Scheme in view of Regulation 46 of the 1979 
Regulations. The appellant filed writ petition before the 
High Court. The High Court partly allowed the appeal and 
directed the respondent to pay gratuity to the appellant 
F as per Regulation 46(2) of the 1979 Regulations after 
adjusting the amount of gratuity already paid to the 
appellant. The instant appeals were filed challenging the 
order of the High Court. 
G 
H 
Dismissing the appeals, the court 
HELD : 1. The appellant is not entitled to claim 
pensionary benefit in view of Regulation 46(1) of the 
Allahabad Bank Officers Service Regulations, 1979. 
Regulation 46(1) provides pensionary benefit under 
SUDHIR KUMAR CONSUL v. ALLAHABAD BANK 1121 
existing supplementary pension Scheme in lieu of A 
gratuity only to those officers who were officers on the 
appointed date i.e. the officers who were appointed on 
or before 01.07 .1979. Moreover, Provision 3 of the Old 
Pension Scheme stipulates that the officers who are 
. recruited or promoted after 01.07 .1979, i.e. the date of B 
implementation of the 1979 Regulations, are not entitled 
for pension as per the said Regulations. It is an admitted 
fact that the appellant was working with the respondent 
as a Clerk on 01.07.1979 and was promoted as an officer 
only in 1983. Therefore, the appellant is not eligible to c 
claim any benefit under the Old Pension Scheme. [Para 
8] [1128-B-E] 
2. It is. well settled law that the vires of any 
subordinate legislation can be challenged on the ground 
that it is arbitrary, unreasonable and offends Article 14 of D 
the Constitution of India. The 1979 Regulations were 
introduced with a view to standardize and provide 
comprehensive and compact set of rules in respect of 
wages and perquisites of the officers of the Bank. In 
furtherance of this object, Regulation 46 (1) of the 1979 
E 
Regulations 

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