- (1.)Leave granted.
(2.)The appellants in these appeals were originally inducted into the service of Bank of Madura. By virtue of a scheme of amalgamation sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India, the Bank of Madura was merged with the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Bank (hereinafter referred to as the 'ICICI Bank') with effect from 10.03.2001. Consequent upon the aforesaid merger, the appellants became the employees of the ICICI Bank.
(3.)All the appellants are retirees, having sought voluntary retirement from the ICICI Bank. Their retirement was operative with effect from 31.07.2003. The appellants' claim is for pension. The instant claim emerges from the Bank of Madura Employees' Pension Regulation, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as the Rs. 1995 Regulations'). The 1995 Regulations define the voluntary retirement scheme in Regulation 2(ze). The same is being extracted hereunder:
"'V.R.S.' means Bank of Madura Employees' Voluntary Retirement Scheme enclosed to the circular CO.STF:39/94-95 dated July 21, 1994, or any other specific scheme, that may be implemented in future bringing such scheme under the definition of this regulation. The employees who have completed 20 years of service in the bank and who have retired subsequent to the expiry of the scheme mentioned in the Circular CO:GM:CIR:2/93-94 dated May 20, 1993, and who were extended the additional benefits in addition to the normal retirement benefits shall be deemed and considered to have retired under V.R.S."