Petitioners, retired HDFC Bank employees, challenged the bank's decision denying pension scheme applicability. The court held the writ petition was not maintainable as the private sector bank is not under the jurisdiction of Article 226.
Petition dismissed as not maintainable.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT:
THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE P.V.ASHA
THURSDAY, THE 15TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2018 / 26TH MAGHA, 1939
WP(C).No. 4615 of 2013
PETITIONER(S)
1 S.K. HARIDASAN, SWARGATH MADHOM, NEAR KRISHNA CLINIC, THIRUVANCHIKULAM, KODUNGALLOOR, PIN-680 664. 2 N. RADHAKRISHNA MALLAYA, NARASIMHA NIVAS, DEVASWOM PARAMBIL, CHERAI. P.O., PIN-683 514. 3 KUMARI GOURI, MANJERI KOVILAKOM, THOTTEKKATTU LANE, POONKUNNAM, THRISSUR, PIN-680 002. 4 M.K. RAJENDRA SARMA, MANIYOOR MADHOM, MANOJ VIHAR, THIRUVANCHIKULAM, KODUNGALLOOR, PIN-680 664. 5 S.A. SACHIDANANDA BALIGA, 12/591A, 'USHUS', MANTHRA ROAD, PANDIKUDY, KOCHI-682 002. 6 G. VENKITESWARA PRABHU, ALUNGAL HOUSE, CHERTHALA, PIN-688 524. 7 U. RAGHU PRASAD, UNNIPARAMBATH HOUSE, FLAT B1, THRYSAM APARTMENT, NEAR OVAL PALACE, SREENIVASAN KOVIL ROAD, NEAR KANNANKULANGARA TEMPLE, THRIPUNITHURA-682 301. 8 L. SANKARANANDA BHAT, 8/138, R.G. PAI ROAD, SOUTH CHERLAI, KOCHI-682 002. 9 MURALEEDHARAN. N., KAUSTHUBHAM, KOKKOTHAMANGALAM. P.O., CHERTHALA-688 524. 10 R. SUBRAMANIAN, 'SOBHA', XXV/123, CHACHU CHAKKIOR ROAD, IRINJALAKUDA, PIN-680 121. 11 P.H. GOPALAKRISHNAN, 'PARARATH', PADAMANGALAM ROAD, NORTH-WEST CORNER OF VALAVANAD TEMPLE, MARUTHORVATTOM. P.O., CHERTHALA. 12 M.N. MADANAN, MOORKANAD HOUSE, SRINGAPURAM, KODUNGALLOOR, PIN-680 664.
WP(C).No. 4615 of 2013
13 PRAKASH RAO K.S., 690, 12TH CROSS, 1ST 'A' MAIN, 7TH BLOCK WEST, JAYANAGAR, BANGALORE-560 070.
14 K.C. VIJAYAN, KOONIYARA HOUSE, POONKUNNAM P.O., THRISSUR DISTRICT, PIN-680 002. 15 V. MURALEEDHARAN, KRISHNA, T.D. NAGAR-113, CUTCHERRY P.O., KOLLAM, PIN-691 013.
BY ADVS. SRI.PRAVEEN.H., SRI.ANWIN GOPAKUMAR, SMT.KALA G.NAMBIAR, SRI.K.AMAL NATH NAIK, SMT.ROSHNI MANUEL, SMT.R.ANJANA, SRI.ASWIN GOPAKUMAR.
RESPONDENT(S):
1. UNION OF INDIA, REPRESENTED BY ITS JOINT SECRETARY (BO), DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES, MINISTRY OF FINANCE, ROOM NO.32, JEEVAN DEEP BUILDING, PARLIAMENT STREET, NEW DELHI-110 001.
2. HDFC BANK LIMITED,
3. INDIAN BANKS ASSOCIATION, WORLD TRADE CENTRE, 6TH FLOOR, CENTRE 1 BUILDING, WORLD TRADE CENTRE COMPLEX, CUFFE PARADE, MUMBAI-400 005, REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN.
R1 BY SRI.N.NAGARESH, ASSIST. S.G. OF INDIA. R2 BY ADVS. SRI.SAJI VARGHESE. SMT.MARIAM MATHAI. SRI.T.RAJESH.
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 15-02-2018, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
rs.
WP(C).No. 4615 of 2013
APPENDIX
PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:
| EXT.P1 | COPY OF THE RELEVANT EXTRACTS FROM THE SCHEME OF AMALGAMATION OF LKB WITH CBOP. |
|---|---|
| EXT.P1A | COPY OF THE AMALGAMATION AGREEMENT DATED 23/05/2008 BETWEEN 2ND RESPONDENT & CBOP. |
| EXT.P2 | COPY OF THE OFFER LETTER DATED 24/11/2007 ISSUED TO THE PETITIONER BY CBOP FOR NEW HARMONIZED COMPENSATION. |
| EXT.P3 | COPY OF THE JOINT NOTE DATED 27/04/2010 BETWEEN 3RD RESPONDENT & INDIAN BANKS LIKE ERSTWHILE LKB. |
| EXT.P3A | COPY OF THE CIRCULAR ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT AS PER PROCEEDINGS NO.CIR/HR & IR/G2/665/90/2010-11/999 DATED 10/08/2010. |
| EXT.P3B | COPY OF THE CIRCULAR ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT AS PER PROCEEDINGS NO.CIR/HR & IR/2012-13/G2/6213 DATED 09/11/2012. |
| EXT.P4 | COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 15/06/2010 MADE BY THE 1ST PETITIONER. |
| EXT.P4A | COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 27/09/2011 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT BANK THROUGH ITS HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT TO 1ST PETITIONER. |
| EXT.P4B | COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 22/12/2010 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT TO AN ERSTWHILE EMPLOYEE LIKE PETITIONERS. |
| EXT.P4C | COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 22/12/2010 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT TO ANOTHER ERSTWHILE EMPLOYEE LIKE PETITIONERS SEEKING OPTION FOR EXPANSIONARY BENEFITS. |
| EXT.P4D | COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 22/12/2010 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT YET ANOTHER EMPLOYEE LIKE PETITIONERS SEEKING OPTION FOR EXPANSIONARY BENEFITS. |
| EXT.P5 | COPY OF THE DETAILED REPRESENTATION DATED 30/12/2011 SUBMITTED BY THE 1ST PETITIONER TO THE 1ST RESPONDENT. |
| EXT.P6 | COPY OF THE POINT WISE REPLY DATED 20/10/2011. |
| EXT.P7 | COPY OF THE LORD KRISHNA BANK EMPLOYEES (PENS) REGULATIONS 1993. |
| EXT.P8 | COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN WA NOS.2956-2977/2012 DATED 30/07/2012 BY THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA. |
| EXT.P9 | COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN W.P.(C)NO.9069/2012 DATED 22/03/2012 BY THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH. |
RESPONDENT'S EXHIBITS: NIL.
//TRUE COPY//
P.S. TO JUDGE
rs.
P.V.ASHA, J.
W.P(C) No.4615 of 2013-B
Dated this the 15th day of February, 2018
JUDGMENT
The petitioners are retired employees of H.D.F.C bank. They have filed this writ petition challenging Ext.P4(a) decision of the bank by which the petitioners were informed that the pension scheme as per the IBA guidelines were not applicable to them, i.e, to the Centurion Bank of Punjab Ltd. and H.D.F.C Ltd.
the respondent/bank - HDFC, is a bank in private sector which does not come under the purview of Article 226 of the Constitution of India. Even though the Union of India is arrayed as the 1st respondent, the 1st respondent does not have any role in the subject matter of this case.
In the above circumstances, I dismiss the writ petition as not maintainable without prejudice to the right of the petitioners to approach the appropriate forum.
Sd/- (P.V.ASHA, JUDGE)
rtr/
1 issue framed by the court
Whether a writ petition filed against a private sector bank is maintainable under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
S.K. Haridasan and others
Union of India
HDFC Bank Limited
Indian Banks Association
P.V. Asha
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
