HUMBLE PRAYER

 Respected Sh Vikram Nath ji

“HUMBLE PRAYER”

Dated 07/03/2025

Hon’ble Justice Respected Sh Sandeep Mehta ji

Reg: In The Matter Of Pension Updation Of Bank Pensioners Through SLP(C) - 005561/2016 & CA- 7993/2023 , Listed On March 20, 2025 - Filed By M C Singla (Dead) & Others - Vs­ Union Govt of India & Others

Hon’ble Lordships,

Most humbly and respectfully , I , Vivek Kaul , a Retired General Manager from UCO Bank along­with around seven lakh and eighty thousand Public Sector Bank Pensioners beg and pray your honour and submit before Lordships for your kind consideration , seeking most genuine favour as prayed hereunder:

Our Lordships , the existing Pension Scheme in PSU Banks and some Private Sector Banks under the umbrella of Indian Bank Association (IBA) was implemented in terms of an Documented Agreement of 1993 between IBA and Bank Unions totally in-line with Central Govt. Servants’ and RBI Employees’ Pension Schemes and the said Agreement of 1993 was followed by lawful formulation of “Bank Employees Pension Regulations 1995”. It would be quite pertinent to place on record here that the above referred to Pension Scheme was launched in lieu of “Complete Surrender” of Employees’ entire accumulated Contributory Provident Fund as on date of signing of the Pension Agreement in 1993 with the explicit provisions in regard to Mandatory Contribution of the Employer Banks towards Pension Fund (so created out of surrendered CPF) at the end of every financial year to the tune of the Shortfall , if any , as accessed by the Actuaries on year to year basis , to ensure regular and ongoing payment of Service and Family Pension till their survival , meaning thereby , the Pension Scheme in banks was evolved and ensured as a regular ongoing , un-interrupted and assured monthly Pension Payment out of the Pension Fund along-with its interest earnings and mandatory contributions of the Employer Banks out of their profits. No budgetary provisions were envisaged to be incorporated in the Agreement of 1993 ( Agreement of 1993 has recently been upheld by this apex court in a similar pension case in respect of Regional Rural Banks ) to meet out Pension Payments in terms of the Agreement of 1993 of Bank Employees’ Pension Scheme not as otherwise in practice for Central and/or State Govt Pensioners whose pension is paid out of Government Exchequer and also to Legislators or Parliamentarians who get multiple pensions on each and every time as and when they get elected.

Our Lordships , to our utter ill-luck and misfortune No Updation / Revision in Pension has ever taken place for the last over 38 years , since inception, despite the fact that salary of the serving bank employees gets revised after each five years block . More so, though the Pension Scheme in Public Sector Banks was introduced exactly in line with Central Civil Servants’ and RBI Employees’ Pension Schemes , where the Pension gets updated and revised periodically in RBI , NABARD and invariably gets revised and duly updated along-with each and every salary and wage revisions (Pay Commissions) simultaneously , shockingly keeping Bank Employees deprived of their legitimate rights of Pension Updation along-with each and every Wage Revision Joint Notes for serving officers and Settlements for serving employees , knowing well that it has already been ruled by the nation’s apex court - in its various judgements , ruling that pay and pension are not separable phenomena .

Our Lordships , after having failed to convince our managements to end this dual and discriminatory treatment with equally and similarly placed citizens , a few of us led by Late Sh M C Singla and others knocked the doors of law before Punjab and Haryana High Court , long ago in 2008 but unfortunately could not get justice , necessitating filing of the subject SLP in 2016 and CA in 2023 before this Hon’ble Court , which are listed on 20th March 2025 in compliance of Lordships’ Order dated 18/02/2025.

Our Lordships , it may be expected from us to bring to your kind notice that pensioners getting affected and represented by appellants in the matter were/are senior citizens ageing from 60 to 90 , numbering over seven lakh and eighty thousand , as on date of filing of the matter initially before Punjab and Haryana High Court Chandigarh and the fact is that thousands of them have since passed away to heavenly abode remaining deprived of their legitimate entitlements .Today , the scenario is that previously retired bankers even of the rank of General Managers are drawing even lesser pension than the clerks retired/retiring today and even not equal to the pension of Subordinates retired/retiring from Central or/and State Government jobs.

Our Lordships, it is humbly re-submitted here that the pension of State and Central Govt pensioners gets revised along-with every periodic pay revision treating both as integral faces of the same coin in accordance with numerous judgements already passed by this apex court , despite the fact that such payments are being made out of Budgetary Provisions , whereas pension and family pension to bank employees gets met out from their own accumulated Pension Fund and its interest earnings and from the Statuary Contributions of the Employer Banks out of their huge profits generated year after year and transferring 80% of such profits to Central Government but shockingly for bank pensioners the same is denied , thus treating equals and similarly placed as unequals by treating with two different yardsticks.

Our Lordships , of late , old and aged bank pensioners are regularly writing to Ministry of Finance , Govt.of India and Indian Bank Association requesting both to accede to their persistent demand of Pension Updation , besides staging Dharnas and Demonstrations in all major cities throughout the country in addition to submitting Memoranda to both and also to the Members of Parliament across the country but of no expected result. The unions of working bank employees and officers in the form of “United Forum of Bank Unions” (UFBU) are not persuading the demand of Pension Updation seriously for un-understandable reasons might be considering banks pensioners as extincting community.

With above submissions and vociferous prayers we nearly seven lakh and eighty thousand of bank pensioners and family pensioners are depending solely on a favourable decision from our Lordships seeking justice which would be of immense help and support at this unattended and ending phase of our lives . We do not have sufficient financial resources to meet high legal costs and expenses in arranging top class Solicitors and Advocates and and therefore SOLELY depend on a long-long prayed decision , directing the respondents not to treat bank pensioners differently and to treat us at par with RBI/NABARD and Government Pensioners .

With Warm Regards ,

Vivek Kaul General Manager (Retd) UCO Bank (and over seven lakhs of bank pensioners) Ph No- 7807244438 , (email-id vivek.kaul2012@gmail.com)Tara Niwas , Depot Bazar , Dharamshala ( HP ) PIN-176215