I.P.MUKERJI,J. - (1.) The West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation was established by the West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Act, 1974. It is under the administrative control of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal. This writ application has 71 petitioners. They were all officers or otherwise employed with the Corporation. They retired on various dates between 1994 and 2008. The vast majority of them retired between 2007 and 2008. The dates of retirement are mentioned in the cause title itself. They were all beneficiaries of a Contributory Provident Fund Scheme. At the time of retirement they received the provident fund amount together with gratuity and leave encashment. The Corporation gives them no pension. They get a meagre amount of pension from the provident fund authority. It is in most cases a little over rupees one thousand per month. In some cases it is as low as Rs. 594 per month.
(2.) They have come to this court complaining of the West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation Employee's [Death cum Retirement] Benefit Regulations 2008. They were made applicable with retrospective effect from 1st April, 2008. It was published at a much later date on 10th December, 2008. It was not a statutory enactment but an administrative decision. The benefit was extended to all whole time employees, permanent and temporary who were in the service of the Corporation on 1st April, 2008 and also to those who were appointed on and after that date. The employees, by these Regulations became entitled to pension after ten years of qualifying service. This pension was payable on superannuation or on voluntary retirement after 20 years of qualifying service and in some other contingencies.
(3.) This writ challenges the fixation of the cut-off date. The writ petitioners express their willingness to deposit the entire amount of the employer's share towards the Contributory Provident Fund together with interest if this court extends the benefits of these Regulations to them. A very short but important legal issue falls for consideration in this application. It is trite law that a government organisation is entitled to announce a policy for payment of pensionary benefits to a class of its employees, based on the period of service rendered, fixing a cut-off date. On fixation of this cut-off date only those employees who were in employment on or after the cut-off date would be entitled to the benefit. It is within the bounds of the government to exclude a class of employees from the benefit because no government has such an amount of excess fund in its hands so as to take under its umbrella the entire body of employees, current and retired. But this cut-off date has to be fixed with great application of mind and reasonably. The exercise should not be arbitrary or discriminatory. It should not manifest any malafide intention on the part of the government.;