In Brief
Employees of various public sector banks and the Life Insurance Corporation who had resigned from service sought to claim pensionary benefits under new pension schemes introduced with retrospective effect. The Supreme Court held that 'resignation' and 'voluntary retirement' are legally distinct concepts. While both involve severance of employment, voluntary retirement requires statutory creation, completion of qualifying service, and formal notice—none of which apply to resignation. Since pension regulations explicitly exclude resigned employees and contain forfeiture provisions, employees who resigned before the schemes came into force cannot retrospectively claim benefits. The Court dismissed appeals by employees of Andhra Bank and United India Insurance, but allowed LIC's appeal against a respondent employee."
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