In Brief
A power company employee was denied pension benefits when he resigned after 22 years of service. The High Court had held he was entitled to pension, treating his resignation as 'voluntary retirement' because he had completed the qualifying period. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that resignation and voluntary retirement are legally distinct concepts with different consequences. Upon resignation, past service is forfeited under pension rules. The court cannot reclassify a resignation as voluntary retirement merely because the employee met the service length requirement. The distinction between these concepts cannot be obliterated, and the employee's admission of resignation precluded any recharacterization.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.