J U D G M E N T

The petitioner retired from service of the 1st respondent Co-

operative Bank on 31.05.2017, on attaining the age of superannuation, after rendering a total service of 30 years. At the time of retirement, the petitioner was disbursed with a sum of ₹10,00,000/- towards gratuity. The grievance of the petitioner in this writ petition is that, in terms of the policy taken by the 1st respondent Bank with the 3rd respondent Life Insurance Corporation of India, the gratuity amount payable to him comes to ₹13,21,667/-. Though the said amount has already been transferred by the Life Insurance Corporation to the 1st respondent Bank, as evident from Ext.P1 communication dated 12.06.2017 of the 3rd respondent, the 1st respondent Bank decided to pay the petitioner only a sum of ₹10 lakhs as gratuity, for the time being, in the light of Circular No.5/2016 issued by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and also the learned counsel for the respondent Bank representing respondents 1 and 2.

3. The issue raised in this writ petition regarding the entitlement of the employees of the Co-operative Societies covered by the provisions under th