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Shashikala Devi v. Central Bank of India and Others

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 11488 of 2014)Decided 17 Dec 2014
Civil Appeal No. 11488 of 2014
Justice T.S. Thakur · Justice R. Banumathi

Background

A bank clerk with about thirty-four years of service asked to leave because serious illness prevented him from working, requesting his terminal benefits for treatment and subsistence. His letter used the word resignation, and the bank treated it as forfeiting his pension rights despite his prompt clarification that he intended voluntary retirement. After he died during the litigation, his widow pursued the challenge to the High Court's rejection of his claim.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and directed the bank to treat the letter as a request for voluntary retirement and reduction of the notice period. The employee qualified for voluntary retirement, and his medical evidence, request for benefits and prompt clarification showed no conscious intention to surrender his earned pension. The competent authority could decide the notice-period adjustment or deduction of three months' salary, but the relevant retirement benefits, including pension, had to be processed and released to the widow within six months of service of the order. If the bank missed that deadline, the payable amount would earn ten per cent annual interest from its expiry.

Lesson Learnt

The substance and surrounding circumstances of an employee's departure letter can matter more than an isolated label. For this pension-eligible employee, documented illness and a prompt clarification preserved retirement benefits despite the word resignation; the result depended on his service rules and evidence of intention.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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