J U D G M E N T

C.S.Sudha, J.

This intra court appeal has been filed by respondents 1 to 3 in W.P.(C)No.42109/2018 against the judgment dated 23/12/2021 allowing the petition. Respondents herein are the petitioner and the additional fourth respondent respectively in the writ petition. The parties and the documents will be referred to as described in the writ petition.

2. The petitioner who commenced his service under the second respondent with effect from 18/10/1983, after successful completion of 35 years in service, superannuated on 31/10/2018 as Senior Scientist/Scientist E1. On retirement from service the respondents only partially released the provident fund and gratuity due to the petitioner. An amount of ₹10 lakhs was given as gratuity, though the petitioner was entitled to more than ₹19 lakhs. This Court in W.P.(C)No.25584/2011 by judgment dated 12/11/2014 has held that limiting gratuity to ₹10 lakhs is unsustainable and had directed disbursement of the full amount due reckoning the total service. The aforesaid issue has been finally settled by this Court by judgment dated 01/10/2015 in W.A.No.1/2015 and connected cases. Despite various decisions on the point, the respondents are trying to restrict the benefit to which the petitioner is entitled to. The relevant rules applicable to the petitioner at the time of his retirement did not prescribe any ceiling for payment of gratuity. As the respondents are refusing to give him the entire amount due towards gratuity, the writ seeking a declaration that the petitioner is eligible to be paid entire gratuity based on his last pay and years of service without any upper ceiling as held in W.P(C)No.25584/2011 and for a direction to the respondents to disburse the full amount of gratuity without any ceiling limit to the petitioner by reckoning his last pay with completed years of service along with interest at the rate of 12% per annum.

3. Respondents 1 and 2 filed counter affidavit contending that payment of gratuity to retired employees like the petitioner is regulated by Rule 14 of the General Conditions of Service (Section II, Part I) of KSCSTE Rules & Regulations. As per the Rules, a retired employee will be granted gratuity at the rate of half month's emoluments which he had last drawn for each completed year of service qualifying for gratuity, provided such employee had rendered not less than five years of service in the Council or any of the Centres under the Council. The claim of the petitioner that he is entitled to gratuity without any limit, is without any substance since going by the statutory rules governing the service conditions, the maximum ceiling limit to which the petitioner is eligible is ₹10 lakhs. The Government has issued orders holding that the eligibility of gratuity will be governed by the provisions of Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (the Act). In no case can the gratuity payable exceed ₹10 lakhs. The gratuity due to the petitioner has already been paid and in case the petitioner has any grievance regarding the same, it is required to be adjudicated before the appropriate forum provided under the Act. The judgment in W.P.(C)No.25584/2011 cannot be relied on by the petitioner as it has not reached finality because SLPs. 22606 and

22611 of 2017 have been preferred against the same.

4. The learned Single Judge by the impugned judgment held that the petitioner was eligible to be paid the entire gratuity based on his last pay and years of service subject to an upper ceiling limit of ₹20 lakhs . The respondents have been directed to disburse the full amount of gratuity due to the petitioner with interest at the rate of 6% per annum for the differential amount that remained unpaid from the date of his retirement till the date of payment. Aggrieved, respondents 1 to 3 have come up in appeal.

5. Heard both sides.

6. Initially, as per sub-section (3) of Section 4 of the Act, the amount of gratuity payable to an employee was not to exceed ₹10 lakhs. The ceiling limit of ₹