Judgment

P.N. BHAGWATI, CJI.

(1) SPECIAL leave granted.

(2) WE are of the view that gratuity is no longer a bounty but it is a matter of right of the employee and it can therefore no longer be regarded as a provision in the discretion of the President as provided in the Pension Regulations. Since there is no legal provision empowering the authorities to forfeit the gratuity payable to an employee, the order passed by the government forfeiting the gratuity payable to the appellant must be held to be bad and must be set aside. We accordingly set aside the order of the High court as also the Order of the government forfeiting the gratuity of the appellant and direct that gratuity shall be paid to the appellant forthwith. There will be no order as to costs of the appeal. The appeal is disposed of in these terms.