JUDGMENT :

Dipak Misra, J.

Pension though, by the judicial pronouncements, has been treated as not a bounty yet the controversy relating to the said claim and denial thereof has been a matter of frequent cavil between the employer and the employee in numerous situations. And that is why this Court has been required to deal with and render judgments pertaining to pension and interpretation of the rules or policies or schemes relating thereto.

2. The present set of appeals fresco a picture which is not a happy one. It appears that the appellant, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (for short' 'the Corporation') at one point of time was enthusiastic to confer certain benefits on the respondent-employees, may be without appreciating the legal nuances but its action irrefragably instilled a concrete hope in thousands of employees.

3. The Corporation is controlled by the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 (for brevity, 'the Act'). Section 21 of the Act which provides that the Corporation to be guided by the directions of the Central Government reads as follows:-

“21. Corporation to be guided by the directions of Central Government. - In the discharge of its functions under this Act, the