In Brief
Tara Chand, a Central Bank of India employee aged over 40 with 11 years of service, opted for voluntary retirement under the Bank's 2001 VRS scheme and sought pro-rata pension. The High Court allowed his petition, finding him entitled to pension under the Pension Regulations. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that although the VRS scheme makes employees aged 40+ or with 15+ years of service eligible to apply, entitlement to pension requires meeting separate conditions in the Pension Regulations. The amended Regulation 28 requires 15 years of minimum service for pension upon VRS opt-in. Since Chand completed only 11 years, he was ineligible for pension, despite his 18-year wait. The Court rejected hardship pleas, emphasizing that statutory schemes must be applied uniformly without exceptions for individual cases.
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