Important Point-In all welfare legislations, the amount payable to the employees or labourers is fixed at a minimum rate and there will not be any prohibition for the employer to give better perquisites or amounts than that are fixed under law.

VASANTI A NAIK, J.

Whether the employees of the Manganese Ore (India) Limited would be entitled to gratuity of Rupees Ten Lakhs at the maximum, as per the provisions of Section 4(3) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and the impugned memorandum or whether they would be entitled to receive better terms of gratuity in terms of the Group Gratuity cum Life Insurance Scheme is the question that falls for consideration in this writ petition.

2. The petitioner no.1 is the Association of the Executive Employees and Officers of the respondent no.2Manganese Ore (India) Limited (hereinafter referred to as 'the MOIL') and the petitioner no.2 is a former employee of the MOIL and the Ex-Member of the petitioner-Association and is stated to be directly aggrieved by the Office Memorandum issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises as also the communication of the General Manager (Personnel) of MOIL, dated 26.11.2014 informing the petitioner no.2 that he is not entitled to gratuity beyond Rupees Ten Lakhs.

3. In the year 1975, MOIL framed the Group Gratuity-cum-Life Assurance Scheme for its employees. A trust-deed was executed with a view to provide certain benefits in terms of the Rules of the Fund to its employees on the termination of their services or retirement or to their beneficiaries in the event of their death. As per Section 1 of the Scheme, the Fund would be governed by the Rules of MOIL Employees Group Gratuity-cum-Life Assurance Scheme (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules') and the Rules would be binding on the members and their beneficiaries. The Rules appended to the scheme and specially Section IV thereof, specify the benefits “on survival to superannuation”. As per Clause 8 of Section IV, upon an employee's retirement on the date of superannuation, an amount equal to fifteen days salary, as on the date of retirement, multiplied by the total number of years of service completed by the employee, subject to a maximum of twenty months salary, is payable to the employee towards gratuity. As per Appendix 1, annexed to the Rules, fifteen days salary of the employee, as on the date of retirement for each year of service subject to a maximum of twenty months salary would be paid to the employee towards gratuity. Even in the offer of appointment issued in favour of the employees by the MOIL, it is stipulated that in addition to the scale of pay, the employees would receive such allowances or benefits as may be admissible as per the rules of the company as amended from time to time. The appointment order refers to the Regulations and Regulation 12 provides that the employees would be entitled to gratuity in the manner prescribed in the Moil Employees Group Gratuity-cum-Life Assurance Scheme (linked with the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972). It is the case of the petitioners that before the impugned office memorandum was issued by the Government of India, providing for the limit of gratuity to Rupees Ten Lakhs, the employees of MOIL were receiving higher amount towards gratuity than the limit fixed under Section 4(3) of the Payment of Gratuity Act. Since the respondent no.2MOIL refused to grant gratuity to the employees over and above the amount of Rupees Ten Lakhs in view of the impugned office memorandum, the petitioners have filed this petition with a prayer that they would be entitled to receive higher amount of gratuity than the prescribed limit of Rupees Ten Lakhs in view of Section 4(5) of the Act that provides that the provisions of Section 4 of the Act would not affect the right of an employee to receive better terms of gratuity under any award, agreement or contract with the employer.

4. Shri Jaiswal, the learned Senior counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that in view of the provisions of Section 4(5) of the Act, the employees of the MOIL are entitled to receive better terms of gratuity in view of the Scheme framed by the MOIL in the year 1975. It is submitted that t