supreme court judgment is out

C N VENUGOPALAN   Former Director (GOI Nominee) State Bank of Travancore & Ex Manager Union Bank of India

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 “Nandanam”  Kesari Junction, North Paravur, Kerala -683 513   Mob: 9447747994 E – Mail: ceeyenvee@gmail.com

               No.180306                                                                                                                                6^th March, 2018

The Secretary (Banking),                                                                          

Government of India, Ministry of Finance,

Department of Financial Services,

Parliament Street, New Delhi – 110 001

Dear Sir,

Gazette of India - Extraordinary Part III Section 4 - Notification No.428 dated 6^th November, 2017 – Union Bank of India (Employees’) Pension (Amendment) Regulations, 2017

Further to my letter No.171204 : 01 dated 4^th December, 2014 on the above subject requesting you to direct Union Bank of India, to implement Union Bank of India (Employees’) Pension (Amendment) Regulations, 1998 and to repeal the mischievous notification dated 06^th November, 2017 which it issued in the name of the Ministry of Finance giving retrospective effect to the amendments to the pension regulations embodied in it, I bring to your kind attention the following clauses in  the order dated 13.02.1018 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 5525 of 2012 viz. Bank of Baroda & Anr.  Vs. G Palani & Ors, the Hon’ble Supreme Court with the following observations in relation to a similar Joint Note dated 14.12.1999 between Indian Banks’ Association and Associations of Officers making it unambiguous that no government order, notification or circular can be a substitute of the statutory rules framed with the authority of law :

15.       The Regulations have statutory force, having been framed in exercise of the powers under Section 19 (2) (f) of the Act of 1970 and are binding. They could not have been supplanted by any executive fiat or order or Joint Note, which has no statutory basis.  The Joint Note of the officers also had no statutory force behind it and could not have obliterated any of the provisions of Act of 1970 or the existing Regulations. Thus, Joint Notes could, not have taken away the rights that were available under the Pension Regulations of 1995 to the Officer.

23.     Pension is a right and is not a bounty, and cannot be dealt with arbitrarily. In the instant cases the existing provisions could not have been amended with retrospective effect, taking away accrued rights on the basis of joint note which had no statutory backing.

28.     Thus joint note/agreement could not have been in derogation of the existing statutory Regulations and regulation 2(s) (c) could not have been given retrospective effect. It is also apparent from the decisions of this Court in P. Sadagopan Vs. Food Corporation of India, (1997) 4 SCC 301, that executive instructions cannot be issued in derogation of the statutory Regulations. The settled position of law is that no Government Order, Notification or Circular can be a substitute of the statutory rules framed with the authority of law. In Dr. Rajinder  Singh Vs. State of Punjab & Ors. (2001) 5 SCC 482, this Court had reiterated that the settled position of law is that no government order, notification or circular can be a substitute of the statutory rules framed with the authority of law.  In   K. Kuppusamy & Anr. Vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (1998) 8 SCC 469, this Court has observed that statutory rules cannot be overridden by executive orders or executive practice. Merely because the Government had taken a decision to amend the rules, does not mean that the rule stood obliterated. Till the rule is amended, the rule applies.

Since the decision makes it unambiguous that the Joint Note and the notification cannot be in derogation of the statutory regulation and it is squarely applicable to the Joint Note dated 27.04.2010 and to all public sector banks,  it is essential that all public sector banks under your control are advised to release the  unlawful contribution and the pension denied from the date of retirement to 26.11.2009 on the basis of the Joint Note, together with interest  to the concerned employees,  at the earliest. 

I hereby request that the decision may kindly be brought to the  notice of all public sector banks with a direction to comply with the Pension Regulations which is statutory as otherwise it could amount to disregard to the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

Waiting to hear from you on this at the earliest.  I remain.

Yours faithfully,

C N VENUGOPALAN