In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld the validity of differential dearness relief schemes for bank pensioners based on retirement date. Pre-November 2002 retirees received dearness relief on a tapering formula while post-November 2002 retirees received a flat rate, following a 2010 bipartite settlement. The Court held these two groups form distinct, non-homogeneous classes with different service conditions and benefit parameters, not subject to the equal-treatment principle in D.S. Nakara. The settlement was a negotiated package deal with fixed total cost that cannot be partially altered. The differential treatment was neither arbitrary nor discriminatory under Articles 14 and 16.
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