IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS (APPELLATE JURISDICTION) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE F.M.IBRAHIM KALIFULLA AND THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE R.BANUMATHI WRIT APPEAL NOS.2771 OF 2004 AND 2772 OF 2004 W.P.Nos.18300 to 18311 of 1998,18348 to 18351/98 18566/1998, 21300/2000, 21635, 21644 and 21654/2000; 7072/2002,8155/2002; 8190 of 2002 and 14868 of 2002 1.The Regional Director, Southern Regional Business Centre, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation ltd., Thalamuthu Natarajan Building, CMDA Tower, 8, Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008. I Petitioner in WA.2771/05, WA.2772/04 2.Post Retirement Benefit Scheme Trust rep. By its Executive Officer, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation ltd., PRBS Section, Tel Bhavan, Dehradum 248 003. II Petitioner in WA.2771/04 WA.2772/04 J.N. Prabha Karuden ...Petitioner in WP.18300/98 Y.N. Durga Prasad ...Petitioner in WP.18301/98 Dr. N.V.L N.Prasad ...Petitioner in WP.18302/98 A. Sampath ...Petitioner in WP.18303/98 Chandrasekhar Devaluri ...Petitioner in WP.18304/98 C. Karuppian ...Petitioner in WP.18305/98 Dr.S.Ravindranath ...Petitioner in WP.18306/98 K. Rangasamy ...Petitioner in WP.18307/98 P. Prabhakar ...Petitioner in WP.18308/98 P. Soliappan ...Petitioner in WP.18309/98 J. Siva Sankar ...Petitioner in WP.18310/98 N. A. Naga Bhusanam ...Petitioner in WP.18311/98 O. Subramanyam ...Petitioner in WP.18348/98 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ K. V. Gopala Krishna Roa ...Petitioner in WP.18349/98 Y. Ramakrishna Rao ...Petitioner in WP.18350/98 D. Rajeshwaran ...Petitioner in WP.18351/98 Y. Prakasah Babu ...Petitioner in WP.18566/98 1. Singh J. N. 2. Sankalpa Mitra 3. Singh R. C. 4. Sunil V. 5. R. Bhatnagar 6. I. Sarala 7. Ramakrishna K. 6. Prasad NBR 9. Suresh Kumar D. 10.Sekar N. 11.Mohan VVK 12. Vinayakumar 13. Kalyanasundaram N 14. Haridas A.V. 15. Yagna Narayana K.V.S ...Petitioners in WP.21300/00 1 G.GANGA 2 M.GOPALAKRISHNAN 3 S.RAMAMOORTHY 4 C.PRABAKARAN 5 O.CHIDAMBARAM 6 S.SATHYANARAYANAN 7 V.SUBRAMANIAM 8 S.NEELA 9 N.PRABHAKAR 10 B.K.DHRUW 11 M.GANESH 12 HOTZAL 13 N.VARADHARAJAN 14 R.YOGESH 15 C.J.J.HEMAVATHI 16 K.PREMALATHA 17 V.RAVIKANTH 18 SHIV NANDAN SINGH 19 J.RAJENDRA BABU 20 P.AKILA 21 REMA MADAN MOHAN 22 ALEYAMMA PAUL 23 G.KALPANA 24 R.BORTHAKUR 25 N.GOVINDARAJ 26 K.SARITA RANI 27 G.CHANDRASEKAR 28 R.NARAHARI https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 29 VELAYUTHAM R 30 S.KARUNANITHI 31 A.R.SRIDHARAN 32 B.N.DUARAH 33 G.ASHIRWADAM 34 V.N.PREM PRAKASH 35 SUNDARA MARY 36 S.R.RADHA 37 MERCY V.O. 38 V.SUMATHI. 39 P.SELVARAJAN 40 C.RAJENDRAN 41 RAJVINDER SINGH 42 A.V.SREENIVASAN 43 V.SARASA 44 A.N.VASAVI 45 PADMINI K.KUMAR. 46 V.MAHALINGAM 47 KARAM SINGH MUNDA. 48 LALITHA GOPALAN 49 V.SHYAMALA 50 KUMARAN P.R. 51 SHANTHA PRIYA M. 52 EMAN GURIA 53 MOHAMED ALI BASHA A. 54 LANKA RAVI 55 P.KONGUVEL 56 S.CHITRAVEL 57 PETER J 58 K.NAVANEETAN 59 P.S.VASU 60 P.JOTHI 61 R.SAMPATH KRISHNAN 62 D.SUGUMAR 63 P.B.SHARMAH 64 S.SENTHILKUMAR 65 K.JAYALAKSHMI. 66 R.PANNERSELVAM 67 VIDEH KUMAR 68 NUNNA MAJHI Petitioners in WP.21635/2000 Respondent No.3 to 7 in WA.2771/04 All the above Writ Petitioners are employees of Oil and Natural Gas Commission, CMDA Buildings, Thalamuthu Natarajan Buildings, Egmore, Chennai - 8. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 1. Iqbal M.K. 2. Garg. HN 3. Mohan Bhat B. 4. Kumar GVR 5. Sampath. A 5. Rao SM 7. Jagdish Singh 8. Kannoji A.K. 9. Ganesh P. 10. Vyas D 11. Prabhakar V. 12. Boopalan K. 13. Naga Seshu Kumar CH 14. Radhakrishnan S 15. Raju Dsan 16. Subramaniyam M 17. Ramaswamy V. 18. Krishna CMR 19. Narasimha Rao BVL 20. Pillai. MKG 21. Rao K. 22. Ramkripal 23. Krishnamurthy VP 24. Gautham Bebnath 25. Sita Ramaiah. D 26. Shankar T 27. Mohanthy S.N. 28. Ganesan G 29. Rao NS 30. Sanjeeva Reddy Gorrepathi 31. Jayaraman Ts 32. Murugesan M 33. Venugopal K 34. Raw SVH 35. Vasantha Mohan P. 36. Ram. BH 37. Baruah BB 38. Sivan S.T. 39. Rawat. Ms 40. Ravikumar R 41. Kandavel PBE 42. Kalyanasundaram S. 43. Philip James 44. Vidyasagar K. 45. Rajesh Sharma 46. Selvaraj C. 47. Chakravorty Chinmoy 48. Ashoke Kumar Roy https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 49. Thajudeen. E. 50. Goud A. B. 51. Prakash G. 52. Kailash Prasad 53. Raman C.N 54. Subramaniam R 55. Venugopalaswamy T. 56. Bhujanga Rao T. 57. Markandeyalu C 58. Sharma A.K 59. Sadanandan Nair V 60. Rao C.M. *S.No. 61 permitted to withdraw dismissed as withdrawn as per order dated 11.07.03 in WP.21644/2000* 62. Vasudevan.K 63. Sushi Nuwal 64. Raju Xavier 65. Rao SMK 66. Srinivas D 67. Chaudhuri A 68. Reddy DV 69. Ismail S.M 70. Murty MSN 71. Reddy PK 72 Narisimha P 73. Satya Sai CH. V 74. Surendra Mohan D 75. Arunava Sanyal 76. Bhaskaran S 77. Murthy VSR 78. Nagabhushanam K 79. Sharma A.K 80. Bhanumurthy C 81. Agarwal AK 82. Atul Jamkhindikar 83. Rao RV 84. Rao SLN 85. Subba Rao VV 86. Balai L.L 87. Venkataraman K 88. Deo PP 89. Seshasai N 90. Mishra RN 91. Raja R 92. Bobby J. Thattacher RY https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 93. Silvester JM 94. Ramachandran K 95. Bhanumurthy N 96. Dhandapani K 97. Anthony D 98. Ramkumar 99. Ekambaram I 100. Kathurai CM 101. Vijayalakshmi KG 102. Prabhakaran S 103. Kunal Niyogi 104. Viswanth R 105. Rajender Kumar 106.Murthy.NCGS 107.Vishal Sastri 108.Saha. SK 109.Bhatnagar.P.K. 110.Uma Maheswar.D 111.Srinivasa Murthy.K 112.Subramania Iyer.R 113.Sastry Iyer 114.Murthy CSVR 115.Sarma MSN 116.Venkataramana.M 117.Tripathi.RP 118.Srinivasan.S 119.Selva Pandian.M 120.Ramesh Babu.B. 121.Nand Kishore.H 122.Ravikumar.C 123.Goutam Malatkar 124.Ashok Kumar Bansal *S.No.125 permitted to withdraw dismissed as withdrawn as per order dated 11.07.03 in WP.21644/2000* 126.Ravi Kumar.T 127.Murthy BSN. 128.Reddy.V.P. 129.NAG.PK 130.Mala Janardhanan 131.Neeraja.P. 132.Rama Murugadass 133.Aravamudhan.J 134.Giri.J.P.N. 135.Hanwate.D.R. 136.J.Sarkar 137.DAS.S.K. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 138.Mohammad Nasir 139.Janardhanan.S.DR. 140.Rana.B.S. 141.Ramachandran.C.K. 142.Phani Shekar.N 143.Miranda.S. 144.Nilson.L. 145.Krishnan K.A. 146.Thigarajan.J 147.Nagarajan.S. 148.Kanthappan.K. 149.Ranganthan.S. 150.Nappoly C.J. 151.Pushpendrakumar 152.Dominic F.U. 153. Misra.S.N 154.Murthy Jvssn 155.Shankar.M 156.Chandra Shekar.D.V. 157.Prabhakar Rao.K. 158.Abbas Mehdi.S. 159.Iyer Sunder.R. 160.Srinivasulu.M 161.Suresjh.V.Heggade 162.A.Hassan 163.Mahapatra K.K. 164.Manoharan.P. 165.Ajay Kumar singh 166.Gunasekaran.R 167.Nigam.S.K. 168.Babu.M. 169.Venkatesh.K.S. 170.Rejendran.B 171.Waikar.R.R. 172.Perumal.A.P. 173.John.T.Koshy 174.Choudhary.B. 175.Abraham Jacob 176.Jagadamba Prasad 177.Bhaktavatsala.K.V. 178.Venkataraman.B 179.Chidambaram.L. 180.Nagaraj.M. 181.Yadagiri.K. 182.Nagaraja Rao.J. 183.Reddy.A.N. 184.Jaiprakash.B.C. 185.Poovendan.A 186.Prabhakar.P.d. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 187.Narasimha.K. 188.Radhanjaneyaswamy 189.Ghulam Moinuddin 190.Natarajan Babu.T. 191.Raghavendran.K. 192.Jothimony.K. 193.Sudip DE. 194.Paidya.T.K. 195.Seshavataram.P.S. 196.Purushottam.SV 197.Rao.A.S. 198.Dhayalan.S. 199.Muruganandam.S. 200.Joseph Amalrajan.G. 201.Yedindas.T.R. 202.Manivannan.P. 203.Sridharan.K. 204.Venkataraman.K.S. 205.RAO.M.P. 206.Murthy.RVS 207.Chandola.SK 208.Sounndara Rajan.P. 209.Gopakumar.K 210.Sunita Kulkarni 211.Muralikrishnan.B. 212.Ganesh.N. 213.Gupta.UC 214. Venkatesh.K 215. Baskaran .K. 216. Malleswari .MN 217. Usha Rani.R 218. Renugopal.S 219. Muthumanickam.G 220. Savithri.G 221. Natarajan.M 222. Jagannadham.B 223. A.K. Malhotra 224. JIT.Singh 225. Joseph J. Kadanthod.U 226. Rahasekaran .R. 227. Abraham C.E. 228. Mallika.B 229. Narasimhan S.A. 230. Chandra Sekar.G 231. Premakar C.S. 232. Narasimha Chari. M.V. 233. Reddy. Y.G. 234. Sreedharan Nair .AN 235. Subramanian K.S. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 236. Sampath.S. 237. Baskaran S. 238. Somnath .DE 239. Gupta .R 240. Mahendran.N 241. Abdul Ahad 242. Sukumaar.CK 243. Raghunath.R 244. Johny K.M. 245. Sankaran.R 246. Pushpa Rajagopalan 247. Manikandan.M 248. Moses.G 249. Naganandini.KVL 250. Sivanesan.C 251. Venkatasubramania N.R. 252. Chandra Mohan .T 253. Chitra.R 254. Sista Uday Bhaskar 255. Shanmugasamy.S 256. Kapil Dev Singh 257. Vijayakumar.J 258. Harpal Singh 259. Pradeep KR Ghaturay 260. Sarat Babu.P 261. Baxla.B 262. Jayasekaran.A 263. Dwivedi M.M. 264. Senthil Kumar TK 265. Rao K.P. 266. Srinivas P.S. 267. Ramanan.S 268. Hare Ram.P. 269. Rao. G.V 270. Christopher.J 271. Nagarajan.A 272. Balakrishnan.V 273. Subramaniam.T 274. Anbuchelvan.P. 275. Rudra Pal Singh 276. Somasundaram.A. 277. Ishrath Jehan 278. Muruganandan.M 279. Vasudevan.R. 280. Anirudh Rao.M. 281. Kalyana Sundaram.N 282. Pemmaiah K.C 283. Chandrasekar.S. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 284. Mahalakshmi SPV 285. Sanjeeb Swain 286. Krishnamurthy RN 287. Onkar Prasad LM 288. Virendra Kumar 289. Ramesh K.V. 290. Arun 291. Subramanian.J 292. Nautiyal YC 293. Negi K.S. 294. Rakesh Kumar 295. Jose Zachariaz 296. Srinivasan.S 297. Abhayabh Vardhan 298. Ranganathan K.P. 299. Murugan.A 300. Giribabu.J 301. Chowdary S.H 302. Murugesan.K 303. Savithri Sriram 304. Prema .R 305. Balaji.A 306. Chandran.K 307. Deepak Bhatia 308. Gunaseelan.C 309. Nallapan.G 310. Shiv Shankar.V 311. Swamy MRN 312. Subramanian.S 313. Gangadharan Nair.M. 314. Rengasamy.R 315. Chelladurai.K 316. Velu.K. 317. Rajamuthu.A 318. Nageswara Rao. S.B 319. Murugan Pugazhanthi.S 320. Girija .G 321. Vijaya Kumari.K 322. Jeyalakshmi.A 323. Zyboon 324. Kugan.S. 325. Natarajan.P. 326. Loganathan.G. 327. Veeramani.R. 328. Rajappan.P. 329. Ramamurthy. GB. 330. Muthaiyan.S. 331. Rameshray Yadav 332. Muralikrishan.A https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 333. Mahamed Ali.A 334. Manickavasagam.N. 335. Murugan.A. 336. Om Prakash Kukreti 337. Ravi.G.K. 338. Ravi.U. 339. Kamalakkannan.M. Petitioners in WP.21644/2000 All the above Writ Petitioners are employees of Oil and Natural Gas Commission, CMDA Buildings, Thalamuthu Natarajan Buildings, Egmore, Chennai - 8. 1. Rao Y.S.S. 2. Mohamed Hameed. 3. Chandrasekaran.C.R. Petitioners in WP.21654/00. Respondent No.3 to 5 in WA.2772/04 1. A.Authimoolam 2. M.Polaiah 3. T.Lakshmi Priya 4. M.K.Bhuvaneswari 5. P.Leena Susan 6. K.Bhaskar 7. A.Thangaraju 8. K.R.Muralikrishnan 9. C.H.Prabhakar 10. S.Jayabalan 11. K.Balu 12. D.Vital 13. G.Sekar 14. C.Thampan Petitioners in WP.7072/02 1. K.R.Ajit Kumar 2. V.Narasimha 3. Dr.K.Ramamurthy Petitioners in WP.8155/02 1. Shyamal Kumar D.S. 2. K.Giridhar Rao 3. D.R.Kadali 4. U.Madasamy 5. A.K.Chakraborty 6. Sanjoy Sinha 7. M.Akilan 8. K.S.Rana 9. V.R.Moorthy 10. G.C.Saha https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 11. C.M.Varadarajan 12. R.S.Bhola 13. E.Chandran. 14. S.Ramesh Babu 15. B.K.Choudhary 16. K.S.R.J.Rao 17. V.S.Reddy 18. M.Sivaraju 19. V.Subramaniayam 20. A.Y.Sudheer Kumar 21. R.Raja Raghu 22. P.K.Jain 23. O.N.Syani 24. B.Baskaran 25. B.L.Garya 26. S.Kalaimani 27. M.Sundar 28. R.Mahadevan 29. Somnath Doss 30. G.A.Badrinarayana 31. S.Kannan 32. S.Anantha Padmanabha Raju 33. P.Muralidharan 34. D.Devadoss 35. Manas Kumar Basu 36. A.Veeramani 37. J.Ravichandran 38. P.R.Kumar 39. R.K.Frederick. 40. G.Ramesh 41. K.Sampath 42. O.P.Gupta 43. R.Rajasekaran 44. K.K.Desai 45. H.N.Arora 46. P.Rajasekaran 47. S.Vasantha Kumar 48. N.Rajendren 49. J.Sanakra Lingam 50. A.Panneerselvam 51. Ravi.K.Nigam 52. S.Balaji 53. K.Anandan 54. Sudeep Abraham Mathew.K. 55. Sanjay Sharma 56. T.Sithivinayagam 57. K.A.Murugavel 58. V.Vairavasamy 59. K.Raghuraman https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 60. M.S.Vijaya Chandran 61. Debasis Karajai 62. M.K.Doss 63. K.Ajith Kumar 64. G.Ramesh 65. Kishore Lal 66. D.N.R.Kumar 67. K.S.Girish 68. L.K.Balu 69. R.Sengottaiyan 70. S.Babu 71. N.Ashok Kumar 72. P.Viswanathan 73. S.Srinivasan 74. G.U.Prasad 75. B.K.Trisal 76. Robin Mathai 77. A.Mathi 78. N.Padmakumar 79. Mukul C.Das 80. K.R.Nambiar 81. B.Rajan Babu 82. P.Rajendran 83. S.Venkata Ramaiah 84. K.Vijay Gopal 85. A.Arunachalam 86. A.Dhakshinamoorthy 87. V.Rajasekaran 88. V.Sundararajan 89. G.Munusamy 90. A.Sengupta 91. Raghuraj Singh 92. A.Arputham 93. B.N.V.Prasad 94. Sayan Biswas 95. A.C.Naithani 96. I. Gopinath 97. B.Vinod Babu 98. A.Ponnusamy 99. M.Selvakumar 100. A.Krishnamoorthy 101. V.Rajakumar 102. P.N.Maran 103. S.B.Srivastava 104. P.J.A.Selvam 105.V.Kumaresan 106.G.Alexender 107. N.P.Sridhar 108. P.Rajagopal https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 109. K.Vaira Pragasam 110. S.Selva 111. S.Sundaramoorthy 112. K.Bhaskar 113. B.S.Sharma .. Petitioners in WP.8190/02 1 R.SAMRAJ 2 K.MOORTHI 3 AMAK MARICAR 4 T.S. PALANI 5.M.VISWANATHAN NAMBIAR 6 VINOD KULASARI 7 RAJGOPAL PRASAD 8 DULAL DEBNATH 9 C.S.KURUP 10 K.VISWANTHAN 11 P.RAMESH 12 M.MD.NAJEEB 13 T.K.BHAGAD 14 S.PACKIRASAMY 15 K.K.BALAKRISHNAN 16 ATUL BOSALE 17 D.RAMANUJAM 18 J.KANTHARAJ 19 T.ARTHUR BERNAD 20 M.GOWRI SANKAR 21 S.SUBRAMANIAN 22 S.MUTHU PANDIAN 23 T.MURUGESAN 24 E.K.TONNY 25 JOY PAUL .C 26 THOMAS K.J. 27 K.RAGHU Petitioners in WP.No.14868/02. vs Union of India, represented by the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and natural Gas, New Delhi. First Respondent in WA.2771 and 2772 of 2004 First Respondents in WP.18300/98 to 18311/98, WP.18348/98, 18349/98, 18350/98, 18351/98, 18566/98, 21300/2000, 21654/00, 7072/02, 8155/02, 14868/02, 21644/00, 21635/00, 8190/02. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ The Chairman-Cum-Managing Director, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., Jeevan Bharathi, Tower II, 124,Connanght Circus, New Delli-110 001. Second Respondent in WA.2771 and 2772 of 2004 Second Respondents in WP.18300/98 to WP.18311/98, WP.18348/98, 18349/98, 18350/98, 18351/98, 18566/98, 21300/2000, 21654/00, 7072/02, 8155/02, 14868/02, 21644/00, 21635/00, 8190/02. The Regional Director, Southern Regional Business Centre, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation limited, Thamamuthu Natarajan Building(CMDA TOWER) 8,Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore, Chennai-600 008. Third respondent WP.18300/98 to WP18311/98, WP.21654/00, 7072/02, 8155/02, 14868/02, 21644/00, 21635/00, 8190/02, WP.18348 to 18351/ 98, WP.18566/98, 21300/00. The Secretary Ministry of Labour Govt of India, New Delhi. First respondent in WP.21300/2000 21654/00, 7072/02, 8155/02, 14868/02, 21644/00, 21635/00, 8190/02. The Executive officer, Post Retirement Benefit Scheme Trust, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., PRBS Section, Tel Bhavan, Dehradum-248 003. The Fourth respondent in WP.18300/98 to WP.18311/98, WP.18348/98, 18349/98, 18350/98, 18351/98, 18566/98, 21300/2000, 21654/00, 7072/02, 8155/02, 14868/02, 21644/00, 21635/00, 8190/02. Appeal under clause 15 of the letters patent against the order of the Honourable Mr.Justice K.Raviraja Pandian dated 11.9.2003 and made in the exercise of the ordinary special original jurisdiction of High Court in Writ MP.31416 & 31435 of 2004 in Writ petition Nos.21635 and 21654 of 2000 petitions praying that in the circumstances stated therein and in the respective affidavits filed therewith the High Court will be pleased to grant ad-interim injunction restraining the 2nd & 3rd respondent from or https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ any deriving right under the second and third respondents from deducting any amount towards UNGC self contributory post retirement and death in Service Benefit Scheme in permit to circular bearing No.40 dated 18.06.1998 any manner herein after and second to grant ad-interim injunction restraining the 2nd & 3rd respondent from deducting any amount from the salary towards UNGU staff contributing post retirement and in service Benefit scheme and in pursuant to the circular dated 18.6.98 bearing No.PRBS/40 by the 4th respondent herein after respectively pending disposal of the above WPs.21635 and 21654 of 2000 respectively. Petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated therein, and in the affidavit filed therewith the High Court will be pleased to issue writ of Mandamus, Writ Petitions filed for Writ of Mandamus directing the ONGC, the second respondent to forbear from deducting any amount towards the ONGC Self-Contributory Post Retirement and Death in Service Benefit Scheme from 16.11.1995 from the petitioner's salary pursuant to circular 40 dated 18.06.1998 of the fourth respondent. (WP.18300 to 18311/98, WP.18348 to 18351/98, 18566/98) directing the respondents 2 to 4 to compute from the date of deduction and refunds the amounts contributed towards Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Self contributory post retirement and health in service benefit scheme known as PRBS Constituted on 29.4.1990 in U.O.No. GGM (P) SBC/OFF/I with interest (WP.21300 of 2000) (WP 8190 of 2002) (WP.21635 of 2000) WP.21644 of 2000 (WP.21654 of 2000) (WP.14868 of 2002) (WP.8155 OF 2002) (WP.7072 of 2002) ORDER : These Writ Appeals & WPs coming on for hearing on Thursday the sixth day of September, 2007, upon perusing the Grounds of Appeal, the Order of the Honourable Mr.Justice K.Raviraja Pandian dated 11.9.2003 and made in the exercise of the Special Original Jurisdiction of the High court, in Writ MP.31416 & 31435/2000 in Writ Petition Nos.21635 & 21654 of 2000 and all other papers material to this case, and upon hearing the arguments of Mr.G.Masilamani Senior Counsel for Mr.P.Rathinadurai, Advocate for appellants and of Mr.P.Wilson Assistant Solicitor General for first respondent in both WAs. and of Mr.A.Elango Advocate for the second respondent in both WAs and of Mr.H.Nazirudeen Advocate,for the respondents 3 to 70 in WA.2771/04 and for Respondents 3 to 5 in WA.2772/04 and upon hearing the arguments of Mr.A.S.Chandrasekaran Advocate for the petitioner in W.P.No.18300 of 18311, 18348 to 18351 and 18566 of 1998 and of Mr.H.Naziruddan Advocate for the petitioner in W.P.No.21300,21635,21644 and 21654 of 2000 and of Mr.P.Wilson Assistant Solicitor General for first respondent in all Writ Petitiones and of Mr.G.Masilamani Senior Counsel for Mr.P.Rathinadurai Advocate for the respondents 2 to 4 in W.P.No.18300 to 18311, 18348 to 18351 and 18566 of 1998, 21300, 21635, 21644 and 21654 of 2000 as of Mr.A.Elango Advocate for the respondent 2 to 4 in W.P.No.7072, 8190, 8155 and 14868 of 2002 and of Mr.V.Vibhishanan, Advocate for the fifth respondents in W.P.No.21300,21635,21644,21654 of https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 2000 and W.P.No.14868 of 2002 and having stood over for constitution till this day the court made the following order; COMMON JUDGMENT R.BANUMATHI, J. The Writ Petitioners seek issuance of a Writ of Mandamus to direct the ONGC to forbear from deducting any amount pursuant to its circular No.40 dated 18.06.1998, towards Post Retirement and Death in service Benefit Scheme [for short, 'PRBS'], from 16.11.1995 from the salary of the petitioners. 2.Background facts:- The controversy in these Writ Petitions and Writ Appeals relate to PRBS, which is managed and controlled by a Trust as per the Trust Deed dated 23.10.1991. Petitioners are Members of Association of Scientific and Technical Officers [ASTO]. In order to keep healthy relationship with employees and for their welfare, after various discussion, ONGC evolved PRBS w.e.f. 01.04.1990 as a welfare scheme. The scheme provides for benefits to the employee or their dependants in the event of permanent total disablement or death, over and above the amount payable under the Workmen's Compensation Act. 3.The draft scheme was approved by the Government of India on 18.09.1991 and by the Income Tax Department on 05.02.1991. The scheme is to take care of the post retirement needs of employees of ONGC and provide social security to the dependents of the deceased employees. As per the then scheme in 1990, scheme would be optional to the then serving officers and compulsory for those officers who joined the services of ONGC on 01.04.1990 and thereafter. 4.W.P.No.1718/1996 of Bombay High Court and modified scheme Circular No.PRBS/40 :- One A.K.Sundaram and 184 others have filed W.P.No.1718/1996 on the file of High Court, Bombay, challenging the financial viability of PRBS and praying not to implement PRBS. By an order dated 05.11.1996, High Court of Bombay observed that the scheme was not viable unless additional funds are raised from different sources. The representatives of ASTO and ONGC agreed for healthy negotiations to improve the scheme. M/s.K.A.Pandit, Actuary was appointed to review PRBS. After due deliberations and considering the report of the actuary, a Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] was executed between the Central Working Committee of the ASTO and authorised representatives of the Writ Petitioners with ONGC. M/s.K.A.Pandit, Actuary had also certified that PRBS had become viable again. Recording the MOU dated 03.02.1998, the High Court of Bombay had granted leave to the Writ Petitioners to withdraw the Writ Petition. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 5.Claim for exemption under EPS 1995 and Writ Petitions before Supreme Court :- Employees Pension scheme came into effect from 16.11.1995. ONGC applied for grant of exemption under para 39 of EPS 1995. Ministry of Labour, Government of India refused to grant exemption under para 39 of EPS 1995. Challenging the order refusing to grant exemption, ONGC filed W.P.No.499/1999 before the Supreme Court of India. ASTO also filed Writ Petition in W.P.No.612/997 seeking implementation of PRBS. By the Judgment dated 11.11.2003, the Hon'ble Supreme Court allowed W.P.No.490/1999 filed by ONGC and batch of other Writ Petitions, directing the concerned authority to examine the application for exemption under EPS 1995 in the light of observations made by the Supreme Court. 6.On the basis of the order passed by the Supreme Court, ONGC renewed the application for exemption on 16.01.2004. Again the Ministry of Labour, Government of India rejected the application of ONGC for exemption under EPS 1995. Since the Government has rejected the application for exemption under EPS 1995, ONGC implemented EPS 1995 w.e.f. 16.11.1995. 7.Modified PRBS and continuation of PRBS as Defined Pension Scheme and as additional welfare scheme :- A joint committee, consisting of four representatives of the Management, five representatives of ASTO and three representatives of recognized Unions were formed to decide on the references inter-alia to study PRBS and consider the recommendations of M/s.Mercer, Actuary. M/s.Mercer Actuary, Human Resources Consulting was appointed to recommend necessary changes for long term viability of the scheme. On 01.03.2007, Central Working Committee of ASTO passed a resolution stating that the modified PRBS is substantial and compulsory, as Defined Pension Model, and that it has decided to continue with the scheme as additional welfare scheme and that the scheme is compulsory for all the existing members w.e.f. 16.11.1995. In the meeting between management of ONGC and Central Working Committee of ASTO, on 01.03.2007, about 23 issues, including Item no.8, relating to review of PRBS and 5 additional issues, were considered. 8.Based on the discussions, Trustees of PRBS Trust passed unanimous resolution for amendment of PRBS, subject to the approval of Income Tax Department, more particularly in respect of of enhancement of contribution varying between 2% to 11% of the notional salary w.e.f. 01.04.2007. The MOU was executed between ONGC and ASTO in respect of modified PRBS making it as "Defined Pension Scheme", which is compulsory to all employees w.e.f. 16.11.1995. To mitigate the deficiency, Board of Directors of ONGC resolved to pay huge amounts out of the distributable profits. Pursuant to the resolution, management of ONGC transferred Rs.320 crores to ONGC PRBS Trust to mitigate the deficiency in PRBS. PRBS Trust is said to have so far settled 17,107 claims of its members a sum of Rs.128.16 crores. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 9.In W.P.No.21635 and 21654/2000, interim injunction was granted in W.P.M.P.Nos.31416 and 31435/2000 restraining ONGC from deducting any amount from the salary for contribution towards PRBS. Aggrieved by interim injunction, ONGC has preferred W.A.No.2771 and 2772/2004. Since common points are involved, the Writ Appeals and the batch of Writ Petitions were heard together and all the connected matters shall stand disposed of by this common Judgment. 10.In these Writ Petitions, there are two batches. In one batch, petitioners seek issuance of Writ of Mandamus forbearing ONGC from deducting any amount from petitioners' salary towards PRBS w.e.f. 16.11.1995. Another batch of Writ Petition relates to repayment of the contribution collected towards PRBS. In all cases, financial viability of PRBS and its validity in the light of EPS 1995 and its justness and fairness is challenged. 11.Pleadings and contentions of parties :- Objecting to the PRBS scheme as per circular PRBS/40 and seeking Writ of Mandamus forbearing ONGC from deducting salary, various Writ Petitions have come to be filed. According to the Writ Petitioners they have not opted for PRBS scheme but they are compelled to opt for the scheme under the Private Trust. According to the petitioners, the EPS 1995, which came to into force on 16.11.1995 is a Statutory Scheme and the Writ Petitioners shall automatically be members of EPS 1995 w.e.f. 16.11.1995 onwards. The impugned Circular of PRBS/40 making the membership to PRBS as compulsory w.e.f. 16.11.1995 is arbitrary, illegal and violative of principles of natural justice. 12.After enumerating the comparative benefits under both schemes, Writ Petitioners have further alleged that pensionary benefits of PRBS is far less to that of Employees Pension Fund, 1995 of the Central Government. Contribution made by ONGC towards the scheme is only a token amount of Rs.100/- per annum, and further no financial liability on account of the scheme will devolve on ONGC or the Government. PRBS is not a viable scheme. Since the petitioners herein have opted for EPS 1995, there is no necessity to continue in PRBS, which is a voluntary scheme constituted under the Trust Deed, for which no legal sanction was accorded by Central Government nor was there any contribution on the part of the ONGC. 13.ONGC has resisted all the Petitions by filing elaborate counter affidavit, listing out various benefits and making out a case that PRBS is financially viable. According to ONGC, the scheme was implemented after various discussions with ASTO and PRBS is a composite social security scheme for the benefit of the employees. 14.We have heard in-extenso Mr.Naziruddin and Mr.Chandrasekaran appearing for writ petitioners. The learned Counsel for the Writ Petitioners contended that when plea of exemption was rejected by the https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Central Government, the entire contribution to PRBS is to be extended to the statutory scheme and continuation of a parallel scheme would amount to duplication of the statutory scheme. It was further submitted that contribution of ONGC being very minimal, the financial viability of PRBS is in doldrums, and in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has to restrain ONGC from making further deductions. Counsel appearing for the Writ Petitioners also urged that when EPS 1995 is more beneficial, for continuation of PRBS, it is to be shown before the authorities that PRBS is no less favourable than that of EPS 1995 for continuation of PRBS. Circular No.40 dated 18.06.1998 of PRBS has no legal sanctity and the same is not binding on the petitioners. Petitioners allege that deduction of amounts for contribution towards PRBS is capricious, arbitrary and violative of Principles of Natural Justice. Grievance of petitioners is that their conditions of service cannot be changed to the detriment of interest of the employees without getting their consent in writing and the same is derogative of Principles of Natural Justice. 15.Countering the arguments, Mr.Masilamani, learned Senior Counsel for ONGC has submitted that when Circular no.40, is not the subject matter of challenge, Writ Petitioners cannot seek for consequential reliefs. Taking us through