Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) passed a Board resolution in 2001 to upgrade the basic pension and dearness relief for retirees who left service before 1 August 1997, proposing an amendment to the 1995 Employees Pension Rules (Para 3A of Appendix IV). The amendment required a rule under Section 48 of the Life Insu…

M. Venugopal was appointed as a Development Officer of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on a one‑year probation, later extended to two years, with a condition that he achieve a minimum business target for confirmation. He failed to meet the target and his service was terminated during the extended probation period unde…

The Jabalpur Municipal Corporation introduced a Family Benefit Fund Scheme whereby employees made voluntary contributions and, in return, received lump‑sum payments on retirement or on death of the employee to his family. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) contended that the scheme amounted to life insurance…

The petitioners, a company dealing in the purchase and resale of life‑insurance policies, challenged LIC's circulars of 2003 and 2005 that refused to register assignments of policies to firms engaged in trading such policies. They argued that Section 38 of the Insurance Act, 1938 makes policies transferable and assigna…

The Supreme Court examined the constitutional validity of the Life Insurance Corporation (Amendment) Act 1981, the accompanying Ordinance and the Bonus and Dearness Allowance Rules, which sought to retrospectively nullify the 1974 settlements granting cash bonuses to Class III and IV employees of the Life Insurance Cor…

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) offered a Salary Savings Scheme under which Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU) deducted insurance premiums from its employees' salaries and remitted them to LIC. DESU failed to remit premiums for two months, after which an employee died and his widow claimed the policy benefit…

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) had introduced a Salary Savings Scheme under which employers were required to deduct insurance premiums from employees' salaries and remit them to LIC. When an employer failed to make the deductions, the employee’s policy lapsed and the claimant sought the assured sum after the empl…

The widowed wife of a deceased LIC employee and her son applied for employment on compassionate grounds after the employee's death. The corporation rejected the wife's claim due to her exceeding the age limit and rejected the son's claim citing a circular that barred compassionate appointments when any family member wa…

The case concerned claims by thousands of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) workers who had been employed as temporary, badli or part‑time staff between 20 May 1985 and 4 March 1991, seeking regularisation (absorption) under the Srivastav Award and earlier Tulpule and Jamdar Awards. The Supreme Court examined w…

The respondent, appointed as a Development Officer on probation by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), was terminated on 22 May 1986 under Regulation 14(4) of the LIC Staff Regulations, which allows discharge without notice or cause during probation. He challenged the termination before the Karnataka High Court,…

The petitioners, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Doordarshan, appealed against High Court orders directing LIC to publish a rejoinder to a criticism of its premium policy in its magazine and directing Doordarshan to telecast a documentary on the Bhopal gas disaster. The issues were whether a State‑owned c…

Ravi Agrawal filed a writ petition seeking retrospective application of the Finance Act, 2022 amendment to section 80DD of the Income Tax Act, which allows a subscriber to discontinue payments to a Jeevan Adhar scheme upon attaining the age of 60 and to use the accumulated benefit. He argued that the amendment should a…

The appellant, Banatwala & Co., a tenant of premises owned by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), sought fixation of standard rent and restoration of essential services under the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 after the landlord raised rent and failed to repair a lift. The respondents argued that the premise…

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) received a large income‑tax refund for the life‑insurance business in the assessment year 1963‑64, which it claimed should be treated as a profit and deducted under Rule 2(1)(b) of the Income‑Tax Act. The tax authorities argued that only the portion of the refund that had b…

The case concerned workmen of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) who had been employed as temporary, badli and part‑time staff after 20 May 1985 and sought absorption as regular employees. Earlier awards of the National Industrial Tribunal (NIT) by Justice R.D. Tulpule (1986) and clarified by Justice S.M. Jamdar…

The respondent, a Development Officer of LIC, was dismissed following a departmental inquiry that he alleged was conducted without a copy of the inquiry report and without a proper opportunity to be heard, violating natural justice. In the suit challenging his dismissal, the employer (appellant) did not lead any oral e…

The petitioners, former employees of the Oriental Government Security Life Assurance Company, sought a revision of their pension and dearness allowance under the Oriental Pension Fund now managed by LIC, arguing that the existing minimum pension of Rs.375 was inadequate. LIC contended that the pension fund was a contra…

R. Suresh, a Development Officer of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), was dismissed after a departmental enquiry found him guilty of negligence, though he was cleared of breach of trust and forgery. He raised an industrial dispute before an Industrial Tribunal under s.11A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 19…

The husband of Smt. Asha Goel obtained a life insurance policy from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in 1979 and died in 1980. The widow claimed the sum assured, but LIC denied payment alleging that the deceased had misrepresented his health in the proposal. The widow filed a writ petition under Article 22…

The appellant, who had served LIC for over 23 years and resigned after turning 50, sought pension under the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Employees) Pension Rules, 1995, which were given retrospective effect. The corporation denied the claim, arguing that resignation forfeited pension rights. The Supreme Court e…

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) issued instructions under Regulation 51 of its 1960 Staff Regulations fixing different cut‑off dates for pay revision (1‑Apr‑1993) and for payment of gratuity (1‑Aug‑1994). Retired officers challenged the gratuity cut‑off date, arguing that Regulation 51 did not empower the…

The Bank of India sued Vijay Transport and its partners to recover a cash‑credit loan of Rs.18,14,817.91, claiming mortgages over several properties. The Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Agriculturists Relief Act, 1938 provides that debts of agriculturists may be "scaled down" under section 13, but section 4(e) excludes de…

The Supreme Court examined appeals filed by several Development Officers of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) challenging a High Court order that set aside an award of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal. The core issue was whether these Development Officers qualified as "workmen" under Section 2(s) of the In…

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and its workmen entered into two 1974 settlements under the Industrial Disputes Act (ID Act) that provided a cash bonus to Class III and IV employees. After the settlements expired, LIC issued notices under s.19(2) and s.9A of the ID Act and the Central Government amended Regulation…

The deceased submitted a life insurance proposal on 6 July 1996 and paid the first premium by cheque on 9 July 1996; he died accidentally on 14 July 1996. The insurer issued an Acceptance‑cum‑First Premium Receipt on 9 July, which the appellants (widow and children) relied on to claim policy benefits. The insurer argue…

The appellant purchased a 25‑year endowment life insurance policy in 1993, paid premiums for 31 quarters, and in 2001 took a loan of Rs 15,000 against the policy before stopping premium payments. He sought the surrender value, and LIC offered Rs 2,268 after deducting the loan and interest, which the District Consumer F…

Karan Singh Chandel purchased a LIC life insurance policy on 28‑03‑1994. The annual premium due on 28‑03‑1995 was not paid and the policy lapsed after a one‑month grace period. The insured died on 01‑07‑1995. A cheque for the premium and late fee was issued on 27‑06‑1995 but was only received by LIC on 12‑07‑1995, afte…

The case concerned the constitutional validity of Regulation 19(2) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Regulations, 1960, as amended in 1977, which required employees appointed on or after 1 September 1956 and belonging to Class I or II to retire at age 58, with a provision for retirement at 50 in the co…

The petitioners, a retired employee of Indian Oxygen Ltd. and a pensioners’ society, challenged the scheme of the company’s non‑contributory approved superannuation fund. They argued that improvements made to the fund in 1985 should have been extended to existing pensioners and that the denial of such benefits violated…

The insured had taken four LIC policies and missed the third half‑yearly premium. A general agent collected a bearer cheque for the overdue premium after the grace period, encashed it and deposited the amount with LIC after the insured's death. LIC rejected the claim, stating the policies had lapsed because the premium…

Canara Bank paid interest on fixed deposits to the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) without deducting tax at source under Section 194A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Assessing Officer treated the bank as a defaulter and issued a demand notice, which the bank appealed, relying on Notification dated 2…

The Andhra Pradesh amendment of Section 73 of the Indian Stamp Act gave the Collector power to inspect, seize and impound any registers, books or documents, including those in banks, without any procedural safeguards. The High Court struck down this provision as unconstitutional, and the State appealed. The Supreme Cou…