Allowed

Saradammal v. the Joint Registrar (General)

Kerala HC2 Mar 2018WP(C)/167/2018

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court directed the Joint Registrar to ensure the Co-operative Society pays the balance gratuity amount to the legal heirs of the deceased employee. The court ruled the insurer's excess payment belongs to the employee under Section 4(5) of the Payment of Gratuity Act.

What did the court decide?

Directed the 1st respondent to ensure the 2nd respondent pays Rs. 1,52,684/- to the petitioner within two months with interest at 9% p.a. from 4.6.2014.

Saradammal Vs the Joint Registrar (General) — Pension and Retirement Benefits | Kerala HC (2018)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

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THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL K.NARENDRAN

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FRIDAY, THE 2ND DAY OF MARCH 2018 / 11TH PHALGUNA, 1939

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PETITIONER(S)

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SARADAMMAL AGED 55 YEARS, W/O RAJAPPAN PILLAI, RESIDING AT SIVASAILAM HOUSE, PAMPADY, S.N.PURAM P.O., KOTTAYAM DISTRICT-686 502.

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BY ADVS.SRI.S.JAYAKRISHNAN SRI.S.PARAMESWARA PRASAD

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RESPONDENT(S):

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1. THE JOINT REGISTRAR (GENERAL) CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES, KOTTAYAM-686 002.

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2. KOOROPPADA SERVICE COOPERATIVE BANK LTD. NO. 3965 REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, KOOROPPADA P.O., KOTTAYAM DISTRICT-686 502.

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R1 BY GOVERNMENT PLEADER SRI.K.P.HARISH

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THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 02-03-2018, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

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WP(C).No. 167 of 2018 (U)

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APPENDIX

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PETITIONER(S)' EXHIBITS

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EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF DEATH CERTIFICATE DATED 01.12.2017 ISSUED BY KOTTAYAM MUNICIPALITY EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF COMMUNICATION DATED 04.06.2014 ISSUED BY THE MANAGER PNGS LIC., KOTTAYAM TO THE 2ND RESPONDENT. EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF CERTIFICATE NO. 2691/17 DATED 29.12.2017 ISSUED BY THE VILLAGE OFFICER, KOOROPPADA EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF JUDGMENT DATED 06.10.2017 IN WPC NO 13407/2017(A) OF THIS HON'BLE COURT EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF REPRESENTATION DATED 29-12-2017 FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT.

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RESPONDENT'S EXHIBITS: NIL

TRUE COPY

PA TO JUDGE

Scl.

ANIL K. NARENDRAN, J.

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W.P.(C) No. 167 of 2018

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Dated this the 2^nd day of March, 2018

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JUDGMENT

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The petitioner's husband late Rajappan Pillai V.G.who entered service of the second respondent Bank as Juinor Clerk on 21.5.1981 retired from service on superannuation on 31.5.2014, while working as Secretray. He died on 24.11.2017. The petitioner is before this Court in this writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the 1^st respondent Joint Registrar to ensure that the 2^nd respondent Society pays a sum of 11,52,684/- to the petitioner along with interest₹ from 1.6.2014 till the date of realisation. The petitioner has also sought for a consequential declaration.

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On 4.1.2018, when this writ petition came up for admission, the learned Government Pleader took notice on admission for the 1^st respondent. This Court issued urgent

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notice on admission by speed post to the 2^nd respondent returnable within three weeks.

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Heard the learned cousnel for the petitioner and

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also the learned Senior Government Pleader appearing for the 1^st respondent. Despite service of notice none appears for the 2^nd respondent Society.

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The pleadings and materials on record would show that the petitioner's husband late Rajappan Pillai who entered service of the second respondent Bank as Juinor Clerk on 21.5.1981 retired from service on superannuation on 31.5.2014, while working as Secretray. He died on 24.11.2017. The liability to pay the gratutity to the employees of the 2^nd respondent Society is covered by the Employees Group Gratutity Life Assurance Scheme with the Life Insurance Corporation. Relying on Ext.P2 communication dated 4.6.2014 issued by the Manager (P&GS) of the Life Insurance Corporation, Kottayam, the petitioner would contend that the 2^nd respondent Society received a sum of 11,52,684/- towards₹

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gratutity payable to the petitioner. However, the 2^nd respondent Society paid only a sum of 10 lakhs towards₹ gratuity, in view of the provisions under Rule 59 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Rules.

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The issue raised in this writ petition regarding the entitlement of the employees of the Co-operative Societies covered by the provisions under the Payment of Gratuity Act to receive better terms under Section 4(5) of the said Act is now settled by the decision of the Full Bench of this Court in Chandrasekharan Nair G. and others v. Kerala State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank Ltd.

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and others (2017 (4) KLT 276) . Paragraphs 5 to 8 of the said decision read thus;

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“5. The liability to pay gratuity does not get shifted to the insurer by the compulsory insurance and the effect is only that the maturity value of the master policy would go to the credit of the dues of the employee. Any amount in excess of the gratuity due would also go to the employee since the contract of insurance would fall within the ambit of Section 4(5) of the Central Act. Any deficit in the amount due as gratuity to the employee

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after payment by the insurer has to be met by the employer only as the liability squarely rests on him under Section 4(2) of the Central Act. The insurer cannot be made liable to pay any amount in excess of the maturity value of the master policy as the same would be dependent on the premium paid to him. The compulsory insurance under S.4A of the Central Act is only to facilitate the employer to discharge his liability and the premium paid is part of the wages only. Of course the wording of the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules gives rise to a doubt that the employee would be pinned down to the amount of gratuity specified in the Central Act. Such an interpretation would render Section 4(5) of the Central Act otiose whereunder the employee has a right to receive better terms of gratuity under any award or agreement or contract with the employer. The provisions of the Central Act or any rule made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other enactment or instrument or contract. The overriding effect of the Central Act over other enactments is explicit from Section 14 of the Central Act which is to the following effect:

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"14. Act to override other enactments, etc.The provisions of this Act or any rule made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in

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any enactment other than this Act or in any instrument or contract having effect by virtue of any enactment other than this Act."

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The co-operative societies wherein the employees are engaged is Entry 32 of List II - State List and gratuity to which a claim is laid is Entry 24 of List III - Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The Central Act which is the law made by the Parliament shall prevail over the law made by the Legislature of the State i.e. the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules. The inconsistency between laws made by Parliament and laws made by the Legislatures of States can be ironed out by calling in aid Article 254 of the Constitution of India. The same reads as follows:

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"254. Inconsistency between laws made by Parliament and laws made by the Legislatures of States.-- (1) If any provision of a law made by the Legislature of a State is repugnant to any provision of a law made by Parliament, which Parliament is competent to enact, or to any provision of an existing law with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the Concurrent List, then, subject to the provisions of Clause (2), the law made by Parliament, whether passed before or after the law made by the Legislature of such State, or, as the case

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may be, the existing law, shall prevail and the law made by the Legislature of the State shall, to the extent of the repugnancy, be void.

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(2) Where a law made by the Legislature of a State with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the Concurrent List contains any provision repugnant to the provisions of an earlier law made by Parliament or an existing law with respect to that matter, then, the law so made by the Legislature of such State shall, if it has been reserved for the consideration of the President and has received his assent, prevail in that State: Provided that nothing in this clause shall prevent Parliament from enacting at any time any law with respect to the same matter including a law adding to, amending, varying or repealing the law so made by the Legislature of the State."

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(emphasis supplied)

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There is no case that the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules made by the Legislature of the State has received the assent of the President in order to prevail in the State under Article 254(2) of the Constitution of India. Every amendment to the State Act or the Rules has also to obtain the assent of the President which is

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absent in regard to the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules. The irresistible conclusion is that Section 4(5) of the Central Act which enables an employee to opt for a better terms of gratuity will prevail over the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules. Only the case of employees who are both covered under the Central Act and the Rules framed under the State Act is dealt with in this bunch of writ petitions since the Central Act does not apply to all establishments. Section 1(3)(b) of the Central Act is categoric that the same applies only to an establishment in which ten or more persons are employed or were employed during the preceding twelve months.

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The dominant intention of the Central Act is to provide for a scheme for the payment of gratuity to employees engaged in factories, mines, oilfields, plantations, ports, railway companies, shops or other establishments. The dominant intention of the State Act is to provide for the orderly development of the co-operative societies in the State as self-governing democratic institutions. A provision in the Central Act to give effect to its dominant purpose may incidentally be on the same subject as covered by the provision in the State Act. But such partial coverage of the same area in a different context and to achieve a different purpose does not bring about the repugnancy which is intended to be covered by Article 254(2) of the Constitution. We shall quote the

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decision in Vijay Kumar Sharma v. State of Karnataka, 1990 KHC 805 wherein it is held as follows:

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"53. The aforesaid review of the authorities makes it clear that whenever repugnancy between the State and Central legislation is alleged, what has to be first examined is whether the two legislations cover or relate to the same subject matter. The test for determining the same is the usual one, namely, to find out the dominant intention of the two legislations. If the dominant intention i.e. the pith and substance of the two legislations is different, they cover different subject matters. If the subject matters covered by the legislations are thus different, then merely because the two legislations refer to some allied or cognate subjects they do not cover the same field. The legislation, to be on the same subject matter must further cover the entire field covered by the other. A provision in one legislation to give effect to its dominant purpose may incidentally be on the same subject as covered by the provision of the other legislation. But such partial coverage of the same area in a different context and to achieve a different purpose does not bring

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about the repugnancy which is intended to be covered by Article 254(2). Both the legislations must be substantially on the same subject to attract the article." (emphasis supplied)

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There is no repugnancy (in the sense that one Act cannot be obeyed without disobeying the other) and therefore every endeavor has to be made to reconcile the provisions and give a harmonious construction.

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The following decisions were cited at the Bar by the counsel for either sides:

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(i) Retnavalli v. Ambalapadu Service Cooperative Bank Ltd. [2005 (3) KLT 320]

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(ii) Nedupuzha Service Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Rugmini [2011 (3) KLT 134 (DB)]

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(iii) Mathew Korah v. Kaduthuruthy Urban Cooperative Bank [2013 (4) KLT 558]

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(iv) The Travancore Cements Employees'

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Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Ramachandran Nair [2014 (1) KLT 889 (DB)] and

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(v) Life Insurance Corporation of India v. K.P.Varughese [ILR 2015 (3) Kerala 420 (DB)].

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None of the above decisions dealt with the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules substituted with effect from 2.11.2010 only and hence do not help to resolve the controversy in this bunch of cases. The second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules referable to the

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amount received out of any scheme implemented by a society shall be construed in the context explained above. The employee in other words is entitled to the higher amount if he has opted in terms of Section 4(5) of the Central Act even if a lesser amount is due under Section 4(2) thereof. The decision in Nedupuzha's case (supra) to the extent that excess amount if any received by the employer under the policy would inure to the employee is affirmed. The said decision does not lay down the proposition that the entitlement of the employee is confined to the amount received under the policy even if it falls short of the statutory limit. Circular No.5/2016 and similar circulars issued by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies stem out of a misconception of the statutory provisions and are quashed to this extent. The reference is answered accordingly and the writ petitions shall be posted before the single Judge as per roster for disposal dependent on individual facts.”

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6. In Chandrasekharan Nair's case (supra) , the

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Full Bench of this Court held that, the liability to pay gratuity does not get shifted to the insurer by the compulsory insurance and the effect is only that the maturity value of the master policy would go to the credit of the dues of the employee. Any amount in excess of the gratuity due would

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also go to the employee since the contract of insurance would fall within the ambit of Section 4(5) of the Central Act. Any deficit in the amount due as gratuity to the employee after payment by the insurer has to be met by the employer only as the liability squarely rests on him under Section 4(2) of the Central Act. The insurer cannot be made liable to pay any amount in excess of the maturity value of the master policy as the same would be dependent on the premium paid to him. The compulsory insurance under Section 4A of the Central Act is only to facilitate the employer to discharge his liability and the premium paid is part of the wages only.

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7. In Chandrasekharan Nair's case (supra) the Full

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Bench held further that, the wording of the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules, of course, gives rise to a doubt that the employee would be pinned down to the amount of gratuity specified in the Central Act. Such an interpretation would render Section 4(5) of the Central Act otiose whereunder the employee has a right to receive better terms of gratuity under

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any award or agreement or contract with the employer. The provisions of the Central Act or any rule made thereunder shall have effect, notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other enactment or instrument or contract. The overriding effect of the Central Act over other enactments is explicit from Section 14 of the Central Act. The Co-operative Societies wherein the employees are engaged is Entry 32 of List II-State List and gratuity to which a claim is laid is Entry 24 of List III-Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The Central Act, which is the law made by the Parliament shall prevail over the law made by the Legislature of the State, i.e., the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules. The inconsistency between laws made by Parliament and laws made by the Legislatures of States can be ironed out by calling in aid Article 254 of the Constitution of India. There is no case that the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules made by the Legislature of the State has received the assent of the President in order to prevail in the State

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under Article 254(2) of the Constitution of India. Every amendment to the State Act or the Rules has also to obtain the assent of the President which is absent in regard to the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules. Therefore, the irresistible conclusion is that Section 4(5) of the Central Act, which enables an employee to opt for a better term of gratuity will prevail over the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules.

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In Chandrasekharan Nair's case (supra) , the

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Full Bench held that, the second proviso to Rule 59(iii) of the Rules referable to the amount received out of any scheme implemented by a society shall be construed in the context explained above. The employee in other words is entitled to the higher amount if he has opted in terms of Section 4(5) of the Central Act even if a lesser amount is due under Section

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4(2) thereof. The Full Bench affirmed the decision of the Division Bench in Nedupuzha's case (2011 (3) KLT 134) to the extent that excess amount, if any, received by the employer under the policy would inure to the employee. The

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Full Bench noticed that, the said decision does not lay down the proposition that the entitlement of the employee is confined to the amount received under the policy, even if it falls short of the statutory limit, and that, Circular No.5/2016

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and similar circulars issued by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies stem out of a misconception of the statutory provisions and are therefore quashed to that extent. The Full Bench has made it clear that, it has dealt with only the case of employees who are both covered under the Central Act and the Rules framed under the State Act, since the Central Act does not apply to all establishments.

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In view of the law laid down by the Full Bench of this Court in Chandrasekharan Nair's case (supra) , an employee of a Co-operative Society, who is covered both under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and the Kerala Cooperative Societies Rules, 1969 framed under the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969 is entitled to the higher amount, if he has opted in terms of Section 4(5) of the Payment of

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Gratuity Act, even if a lesser amount is due under Section 4(2) thereof. Therefore, the excess amount, if any, received by the employer Society under the policy would inure to the benefit of such an employee.

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In such circumstances, this writ petition is disposed of by directing 1^st respondent to ensure that the 2^nd respondent Society pays a sum of 1,52,684/- to the legal heirs of the₹ deceased Rajappan Pillai V.G. towards the balance amount of gratutity payable under the Employees Group Gratutity Life Assurance Scheme of the Life Insurance Corporation, within two months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this

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judgment, together with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from 4.6.2014, the date of Ext.P2. No order as to costs.

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Sd/-

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ANIL K. NARENDRAN JUDGE

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Scl/02.03.2018

Saradammal v. the Joint Registrar (General)

Case brief

What is this about?

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Saradammal v. the Joint Registrar (General)

Case brief

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