Sheelkumar Jain vs New India Assurance Co. Ltd. & Ors

3. The brief facts of this case are that on 01.07.1969 the appellant was appointed as an Inspector in Liberty Insurance 2 Company Limited. Under the General Insurance Business (Nationalised) Act, 1972 (for short `the Act'), Liberty Insurance Company was nationalized and merged in the respondent no.1-Company. The services of the appellant were absorbed in respondent No.1-Company and in September, 1984, he was promoted as Assistant Administrative Officer and posted at the Guna Branch as Assistant Branch Manager. In the year 1989, he was transferred to Indore and posted as Assistant Administrative Officer and thereafter as Divisional Accountant and in 1991 he was promoted to the post of Administrative Officer. The appellant then served a letter dated 16.09.1991 to the General Manager of respondent No.1- Company at the Head Office of the company at Bombay saying that he would like to resign from his post and requesting him to treat the letter as three months' notice and to relieve him from his services. The Assistant Administrative Officer, Indore, by his letter dated 28.10.1991 informed the appellant that his resignation has been accepted by the competent authority with effect from 16.12.1991, i.e. after completion of three months notice. Accordingly, the appellant was relieved from his 3 services on 16.12.1991. Thereafter, the General Insurance (Employees') Pension Scheme, 1995 (for short `the Pension Scheme, 1995') was made by the Central Government in exercise of its powers under Section 17-A of the Act. The Pension Scheme, 1995 applied also to employees who were in the service of respondent No.1-Company on or after first January, 1986 but had retired before the first day of November, 1993 and exercised an option in writing within 120 days from the notified date provided he refunded within the specified period the entire amount of the company's contribution to the provident fund including interest thereon as well as the entire amount of non-refundable withdrawal, if any, made from the company's contribution to the provident fund amount and interest thereon. On 20.10.1995, the appellant submitted an application to the respondent No.1- Company opting for the Pension Scheme, 1995 and gave an undertaking to refund to respondent No.1-Company the entire amount of company's contribution to his provident fund account together with interest as well as the entire amount of non-refundable withdrawal, if any, made by him from 4 company's contribution to his provident fund account and interest thereon. The respondent No.1-Company, however, intimated the appellant by letter dated 25.10.1995 that the Pension Scheme, 1995 was not applicable to those who have resigned from the respondent No.1-Company and since the appellant has resigned, he will not be entitled for the Pensions Scheme, 1995.

4. The appellant then filed Writ Petition No.692 of 1996 before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Indore Bench, which was dismissed by the learned Single Judge by order dated 15.02.2000. Aggrieved, the appellant initially filed Special Leave Petition before this Court, but thereafter withdrew the same and challenged the order of the learned Single Judge before the Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Writ Appeal No.224 of 2006. The Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court held in the impugned order that under Clause 22 of the Pension Scheme, 1995, resignation entails forfeiture of the past services and as the appellant has resigned from service, even if he had worked for 20 years in respondent No.1-Company, he cannot be equated with an 5 employee who had taken voluntary retirement from service under Clause 30 of the Pension Scheme, 1995 and the Pension Scheme, 1995 did not apply to the appellant and dismissed the Writ Appeal.

Explanation: For the purpose of this paragraph, the appointing authority shall be the appointing authority specified in Appendix-I to this scheme."

14. In the result, we set aside the orders of the Division Bench of the High Court in the Writ Appeal as well as the learned Single Judge and allow this appeal as well as the Writ Petition filed by the appellant and direct the respondents to consider the claim of the appellant for pension in accordance with the Pension Scheme, 1995 and intimate the decision to 2 the appellant within three months from today. There shall be no order as to costs.