Alok Sharma, J. - (1.) All these petitions raise a common question of law pertaining to the right of the petitioners all officers of the respondent Rajasthan State Cooperative Bank Ltd. (hereinafter 'the Bank') for payment of gratuity under Rule 7 of the Service Rules and Regulations, 1964 (hereinafter 'the Rules of 1964') @ 20 months pay last drawn on the date of their superannuation without the limit of Rs.3.50 lakhs than extant under Section 4 (3) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (hereinafter 'the Act of 1972').
(2.) SBCWP No.6343/2008, Lala Ram Sharma v. Rajasthan State Cooperative Bank Ltd. & Another , is taken as the lead case.
(3.) The petitioner when superannuated on 30.4.2007 after 38 years of service with the respondent Bank was a Senior Manager. His last gross salary i.e. Basic+DA was Rs. 28,114.14. The respondent Bank governed by the Rajasthan Cooperative Societies Act, 1965 now replaced as Rajasthan State Cooperative Societies Act, 2001 (hereinafter 'the Act of 2001') framed Service rules and Regulations, 1964 (hereinafter 'the Regulations of 1964') approved by the Board of Directors in its meeting dated 6-1-1964 to regulate the service conditions of its employees. Rule 7 of the Regulations of 1964 provides for payment of gratuity, and reads as under:- Rule 7 Gratuity (a) When a permanent employee who has rendered approved and meritorious service to the Bank ceases to be in its employment on account of death or retirement, the Board, at its discretion, may sanction payment of a gratuity to such an employee or his heirs, as the case may be provided: (I) he has completed continuous service for a minimum period of ten years and (II) in case of death while in service he was in continuous service for not less than five years. (b) Gratuity shall not be admissible in the case of any employee who is dismissed from service or who leaves, resigns or discontinues the service without written permission or whose services are terminated by the Bank as a disciplinary measure. (c) The amount of gratuity payable shall be at the rate of one month's substantive salary last drawn, for each year of completed service, subject to a maximum of 20 months salary. ;