Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972

The Central Bank of India’s Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2001 allowed employees who were over 40 years of age or had 15 years of service to retire voluntarily. Tara Chand, who had 11 years of service and was over 40, opted for voluntary retirement in February 2001, but the Bank denied him a pro‑rata pension. The Single…

The appellant, Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd., sought to withhold the gratuity of its former Chief General Manager, Rabindranath Choubey, on the ground that a departmental inquiry for alleged misconduct was pending. The employee retired on superannuation and applied for gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, which …

The Supreme Court examined the constitutional validity of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2009, which amended the definition of “employee” in the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and inserted Section 13A with retrospective effect from 3 April 1997 to extend gratuity benefits to teachers in private schools. The pe…

The respondent, Pradeep Mehra, served as Chief Operating Officer of BCH Electric Limited for 12 years and, upon resignation in June 2012, claimed gratuity of Rs.1.83 crore based on the company's gratuity scheme which did not impose a statutory ceiling. The employer paid only Rs.10 lakh, the ceiling prescribed under Sec…

The Central Bank of India and other nationalised banks (appellants) challenged the validity of a cut‑off date they fixed for calculating gratuity payable to retired employees (respondents) under their Regulation 46. The respondents argued that the cut‑off date, which limited the benefit of revised pay scales to retiree…

The Himachal Pradesh Government introduced the 1999 Pension Scheme for employees of state-owned corporations, replacing the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1995. After a high‑level committee found the scheme financially unsustainable, the Government issued a notification on 2 December 2004 repealing the scheme, allo…

The appellant, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd., sought to withhold the gratuity of its former employee, Sri Rabindranath Choubey, who had superannuated while a disciplinary inquiry was pending, and to impose dismissal after the inquiry concluded. The respondent argued that gratuity becomes payable on superannuation and that d…

The appellants, former employees of United India Insurance, retired under the General Insurance Employees’ Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2004 (SVRS‑2004) and claimed that they were also entitled to the notional five‑year service benefit provided under the earlier General Insurance (Employees) Pension Scheme, 199…

The appellants, teachers appointed in a grant‑in‑aid school in Rajasthan, were regularised by the Supreme Court but were denied leave‑encashment and gratuity benefits. The High Court held that payment of salary arrears sufficed, ignoring the entitlement to leave encashment and gratuity. On appeal, the Court examined wh…

The Gujarat Transport Department floated a tender for manpower services with conditions that the salary paid must not be less than the minimum wage and that bids must be fixed, not open‑ended. Three bidders qualified; the Technical Evaluation Committee fixed a minimum‑wage figure of Rs 3,00,92,346, rendering the bids o…

The case concerned a Sub‑Inspector of the Railway Protection Force, Rajendra Kumar Dubey, who was compulsorily retired on 5 December 2007 for gross neglect of duty relating to theft of railway property. Dubey challenged the retirement in a writ petition, and the Bombay High Court set aside the order, reinstating him wi…

The petitioners, Anganwadi workers and helpers employed under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme in Gujarat, sought gratuity benefits under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. The Gujarat High Court’s Division Bench held that they were not employees and thus ineligible for gratuity, overturning an e…

The case concerned whether Anadi Nath Banerjee, whose land was acquired for the Sonepur Bazari Open Cast Project, was entitled to employment under a tripartite agreement that promised jobs to land‑losers possessing at least two acres. The Land Acquisition Collector’s certificate recorded Banerjee’s own holding as 0.300…

Netram Sahu was employed by the State of Chhattisgarh as a daily wager from 1 April 1986 and was regularized as a work‑charge employee on 6 May 2008, retiring on 30 July 2011 after a total service of 25 years 3 months. He claimed gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, and the Controlling Authority allowed hi…

The appellant, an Assistant Editor of a newspaper publishing company, was dismissed after a disciplinary inquiry that found him guilty of misconduct. He subsequently claimed gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, but the employer denied it, invoking the Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Cond…

Sudhir Kumar Consul was appointed as a clerk in Allahabad Bank in 1976 and promoted to officer in 1983. After taking voluntary retirement in 2001, he sought pension under the Old Pension Scheme, invoking Regulation 46(1) of the Allahabad Bank Officers Service Regulations, 1979, which provides pension in lieu of gratuit…

DhanSai Sahu, who had worked as a daily‑wager before being regularised as a government employee, claimed gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 after superannuation. The High Court held that Section 2(e) of the Act excluded him because his post was governed by the Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Pension) Rules, …

The appellant, a bank officer, was served a charge sheet for loan disbursement irregularities on the day he superannuated, and disciplinary proceedings continued, resulting in a permanent reduction of three pay‑scale stages. The appellant challenged the punishment, arguing that post‑retirement only the Pension Regulati…

Anita Merchant booked three flats from Suneja Towers Private Limited, paid 60% of the price, but the builder failed to deliver possession even after the agreed period, leading her to file consumer complaints. The District Forum dismissed the complaints, but the State Consumer Commission reversed the decision, ordering …

The employer, M/s. Creative Garments Ltd., appealed against a Labour Court award that reinstated employee Kashiram Verma with back wages. The employee never reported for duty despite multiple communications, and his permanent address was never furnished; only a "care of Union" address was provided. The Supreme Court fo…

The Supreme Court examined two appeals challenging the forfeiture of gratuity by a public sector undertaking (Western Coal Fields Ltd.) and the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) after employees were terminated for misconduct. The employees argued that forfeiture required a criminal conviction, which …

The All India Allahabad Bank Retired Employees Association filed writ petitions seeking gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, alleging that the bank’s pension scheme, which employees had opted for, could not deprive them of statutory gratuity. The Allahabad High Court held that the retirees were entitled to…

Dhirendra Pal Singh, a retired Assistant Store Superintendent of Uttar Pradesh, had 30% of his gratuity and pension withheld on the ground of alleged stock discrepancies. No departmental enquiry under Article 351‑A of the Uttar Pradesh Civil Service Regulations was ever initiated, and the document relied upon was dated…

The Supreme Court examined whether a government employee convicted of corruption, with a criminal appeal pending, is entitled to his death‑cum‑retirement gratuity (DCRG) under the Kerala Service Rules. The Court held that Rule 3A cannot be read in isolation; it must be read together with Rule 3, Note 2 and Ruling 3, wh…

Y.K. Singla, a former chief manager of Punjab National Bank, retired on superannuation in 1996 but his gratuity and other retiral benefits were withheld pending criminal proceedings alleging conspiracy. He was acquitted in 2009 and subsequently received his gratuity and leave encashment, but the bank paid interest only…

The Union Bank of India dismissed a branch manager, C.G. Ajay Babu, for alleged misconduct and subsequently forfeited his gratuity on the ground that the misconduct involved moral turpitude. The employee challenged the forfeiture, arguing that under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 forfeiture is not automatic on dismi…

The petitioner, son of a teacher who died while in service at an aided school, claimed death‑cum‑retirement gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. The claim was rejected by the school authorities, the appellate authority and the High Court, which held that the teacher was not an employee within the meaning o…

The appellants, employees of Coal India Ltd., received gratuity under a 2008 Government office memorandum that raised the ceiling to Rs 10 lakhs effective from 1 January 2007. They challenged the tax deducted at source, arguing that the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2010, which officially raised the ceiling to R…

The case concerned whether the retired employees of the Heavy Water Plant (HWP) of the Department of Atomic Energy, Tuticorin, are covered by the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. The employees had received gratuity under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 and sought the higher amount prescribed under the Gratuity Act, leading…

The respondents, employees of National Insurance Co., opted for voluntary retirement under the General Insurance Employees Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2004 (SVRS 2004) and claimed pension under the General Insurance (Employees) Pension Scheme, 1995. The insurers rejected the claim, arguing that pension under t…

Ashok Kumar Dabas, a conductor with Delhi Transport Corporation since 1985, resigned on 7 August 2014 and his resignation was accepted on 19 September 2014; a subsequent request to withdraw the resignation was denied. The deceased sought pension, gratuity and leave encashment for his legal heirs, but the Tribunal and t…

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal of Birla Institute of Technology against the State of Jharkhand on 7 January 2019, relying on the decision in Ahmedabad Pvt. Primary Teachers Association v. Administrative Officer. During the hearing it emerged that Parliament had subsequently amended the definition of “employee” un…

The Supreme Court examined the dispute between State Bank of India and other creditors (petitioners) and the consortium of Murari Lal Jalan and Florian Fritsch (respondent SRA) over the implementation of the approved resolution plan for Jet Airways. The core issue was whether the Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) of Rs.…

The case concerned employees of Fertiliser Corporation of India Ltd. who, after a series of writ petitions for pay‑scale revision, were granted ad‑hoc monthly payments by the Supreme Court in 2000 pending final resolution. After the companies were closed and the employees exited under a voluntary separation scheme, the…

The Birla Institute of Technology (BIT) appealed against the State of Jharkhand and other respondents after a teacher who retired in 2001 claimed gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. The High Court had upheld the gratuity award, and BIT challenged the applicability of the Act to teachers, arguing that the …

The Birla Institute of Technology (BIT) employed Respondent No.4 as an Assistant Professor from 1971 until his superannuation in 2001. He claimed gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, which BIT denied. The controlling authority allowed the claim, but the appellate authority and the High Court upheld BIT's r…

The case concerned employees of five nationalised general insurance companies who had taken voluntary retirement under the 2004 Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme and later sought the benefit of a retrospective pay revision dated 21 December 2005. The employers argued that the scheme was designed to reduce future sala…

Jyotirmay Ray, a senior manager of Punjab National Bank, was compulsorily retired and denied employer's contribution to his provident fund, gratuity, leave encashment and pension. He challenged the denial of PF contribution and gratuity before the High Court, which partially granted relief, but the Division Bench of th…

The Karnataka State Financial Corporation (KSFC) sold the lease‑hold rights of the closed industrial concern Mysore Panel and Boards Pvt Ltd, whose 83 workmen had earlier been awarded statutory dues of Rs 29,17,062 by courts under Section 33‑C of the Industrial Disputes Act and the Payment of Gratuity Act. The workmen’…

The Management of Sri Ramnarayan Mills Ltd. applied to the Joint Commissioner of Labour to amend its certified standing orders by adding "break in service" as a new ground for punishment under Clause 16. The certifying officer allowed the amendment, but the workers' union challenged it. The Labour Court set aside the a…

The Municipal Corporation of Kanpur, governed by the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, sought to limit gratuity payments to its employees to the rates prescribed under the 1962 Retirement Benefits and General Provident Fund Regulations, arguing that the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 did not apply to local bodies…