1. The petitioner was an employee of the 1st respondent Bank. He retired from service on 31.05.2023. The employees of the 1st respondent Bank are covered by the Employees' Group Gratuity Insurance Scheme with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the 2nd respondent. According to the petitioner, an amount of Rs.22,51,548/- is due to him towards gratuity. It is submitted that the LIC has already released the amount of Rs.22,51,548/- to the Bank at the time of retirement of the petitioner. However, the petitioner has been paid only an amount of Rs.20 lakhs and the rest of the amount released by the LIC has been retained by the Bank. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the action of the Bank is not justified in the light of the decision reported in Chandrasekharan Nair. G. and Other v. Kerala State Co - operative Agriculture and Rural Development Ltd., (2017 (4) KLT 276).

2. The law decided in Chandrasekharan Nair (supra) is that the Society / Bank cannot retain any amounts that the employee has received from the LIC towards gratuity nor can they recover the amounts from the employee, if it has already been paid.

3. The learned counsel for the Bank submits that the