The court affirmed the entitlement to gratuity payments and directed timely disbursement without further impediments.

J U D G M E N T

Dated this the 2^nd day of March, 2026 The writ petition is preferred being aggrieved by the non disbursement of the balance gratuity amount of Rs.4,37,772/- after payment of Rs.10 lakhs, on the ground of ceiling prescribed under the provisions of Gratuity Act .

2. The issue was brought up before this Court by preferring WP(C) No.21861 of 2013. Initially the writ petition was dismissed by Ext.P11 judgment which was thereafter challenged in an appeal before the Division Bench, i.e., WA No.492 of 2018. The Division Bench, in the light of full bench decision in Chandrasekharan Nair v. Kerala State Co- operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Ltd. [2017 (4) KLT 276 (FB)] granted the benefit to the petitioner. This was challenged before the Apex Court by filing a Special Leave Petition as SLP No.367 of 2019 which came to be dismissed by order dated 09.12.2025.

3. Consequently, the matter has reverted to the original position, entitling the petitioner to claim the entire amount. By that time, the petitioner had been paid ₹10 lakhs out of the total amount of ₹14,37,772/-. The present claim is with respect to the balance amount of ₹4,37,772/-.

4. Going by Ext.P6 document, it is evident that the 2^nd respondent - LIC is ready to disburse the amount and, for that purpose, the LIC has communicated to the Secretary of the 1^st respondent Bank stating that the Bank has to file fresh application for claiming the entire amount to settle the claim without further delay. However, due to the pendency of the litigation, the Bank has not approached the LIC in this regard.

5. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner has already preferred Ext.P13 request and Ext.P14 reminder request in the light of Ext.P12 judgment, which is yet to be disposed of by the 1^st respondent Bank. The petitioner is in dire necessity of the amount. The pendency of the Special Leave Petition was the impediment for the 1^st respondent in effecting payment, and the said impediment no longer survives in view of the dismissal of SLP No.367 of 2019 by the Apex Court by order dated 09.12.2025.

6. In such circumstances, it is now open to the respondent Bank to approach the LIC for disbursement of the balance amount out of ₹14,37,772/-. Since the petitioner’s claim is presently pending before the respondent Bank, the respondent Bank is directed to consider Exts. P13 and P14 and pass appropriate orders thereon within an outer limit of one month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this judgment. The above direction is issued in the light of the directions in Ext.P15 judgment as well as the judgment dated

12.07.2018 of the Division Bench in W.A. No.524 of 2018.

With the above observations, this writ petition is disposed of.

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