IMPORTANT POINTS
Financial impact of a decision on the employer is no ground for grant of refusal of relief.
Nothing can be added to or subtracted from the VRS 2004.
The VR Scheme has to be strictly adhered to.

JUDGMENT

SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellants are ex-employees of the respondent Insurance Companies, who initially joined as Assistants, between 1972 to 1980,and went out of service taking advantage of the General Insurance Employees’ Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2004 (for short ‘SVRS-2004 Scheme’). The bone of contention is the plea of these appellants, that they are also entitled to certain benefits arising under the earlier scheme known as The General Insurance (Employees) Pension Scheme, 1995 (for short ‘1995 Scheme’), which inter alia provided that the qualifying service of an employee, retiring under that1995Scheme, would be increased by a period not exceeding five (5) years, subject to certain conditions.

3. The concept of providing pension to the employees of the respondent Insurance Companies was introduced for the first time by the 1995 Scheme, which was notified in the Gazette of India on 28.6.1995, but was brought into force from 1.11.1993. The relevant para 30 of the 1995Scheme, which is of concern to the present dispute, is as under:

“30. Pension on voluntary retirement -

(1) At any time after an employee has completed twenty years of qualifying service, he may, by giving notice of not less than ninety days, in writing to the appointing authority, retire from service: …………”

xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx

“(5) The qualifying service of an employee retiring voluntarily under this paragraph shall be increased by a period not exceeding five years, subject to the condition that the total qualifying service rendered by such employee shall not in any case exceed thirty three years and it does not take him beyond the date of retirement.”

4. The aforesaid 1995 Scheme, thus, envisaged an additional notional benefit of five (5) years’ service for employees retiring voluntarily under it, with the limitation that the qualifying service rendered by such employees: (i) shall not, in any case, exceed 33 years; and (ii) does not take them beyond the date of retirement.

5. The insurance companies were faced with excess manpower, and, thus, to prune the manpower size, a special scheme, being the SVRS2004 Scheme, was introduced for a limited period of sixty (60) days from the date of its notification, that is 1.1.2004. The Scheme was made applicable to permanent, full-time employees eligible to seek special voluntary retirement, provided that they had attained the age of 40 years and had completed the minimum qualifying service of ten (10) years, as on the date of notification. The relevant clauses 5 & 6 read as under:

“5. Amount of ex-gratia:-

(1) An employee seeking Special Voluntary Retirement under this Scheme shall been (sic.) [To be read as ‘be’] entitled to lower of the ex-gratia amount as given below, namely: sixty days salary for each completed year of service, OR, salary for the number of months of remaining service.

(2) The ex-gratia shall be computed on the basis of his/her salary as on the date of relieving. In case, wage revision is effected from a date prior to the date of this notification in the Official Gazette, the benefit of revised pay for the purpose of payment of ex-gratia will be allowed.

6. Other Benefits

(1) An employee opting for the Scheme shall also be eligible for the following benefits in addition to the ex-gratia amount mentioned in para5, namely:

(a) Provident Fund;

(b) Gratuity as per Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (39 of 1972) or gratuity; payable under the Rationalisation scheme, as the case may be;

(c) Pension (including commuted value of pension) as per General Insurance (Employees’) Pension Scheme, 1995, if eligible. However, the additional notional benefit of five years of added service as stipulated in para 30 of the said pension scheme shall not be admissible for the purpose of determining the quantum of pension and commutation of pension;

(d) Leave encashment.

(2) An employee who is opting for the scheme shall not be entitled to avail Leave Travel Subsidy and also encas