STATE BANK OF INDIA HAVING ITS CENTRAL OFFICE AT NARIMAN POINT AT MUMBAI AND LOCAL HEAD OFFICE AT CHANDIGARH Vs. STATE BANK OF INDIA OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners and respondents have come up in appeal aggrieved by the judgment dated 24.11.2003 in CWP No. 1713 of 1993. The issue pertains to the entitlement of the officers to draw Special Allowance with respect to the area where they have been working. It has been ultimately decided that w.e.f. 1.10.1992 the officers will be entitled to draw either the Special Area Allowance or the Hill and Fuel Allowance, whichever is higher. The officers Association in the State Bank of India in the North Zone had approached the High Court of Gauhati in Civil Rule No. 338 of 1992, which was allowed in their favour by order dated 6.11.1992. The Bank pursued the matter in appeal before the said Court leading to judgment dated 30th September, 1993 in Writ Appeal No. 13 of 1992. It was held as follows:

(2.) Despite such a clarification, there was still an ambiguity, quite strangely again raised by the Association and, therefore, the Bank moved a petition as CMP No. 3695 of 1993 and the Division Bench of this Court on 21.9.1994 passed the following order:

(3.) In the judgment under appeal dated 24.11.2003, it is seen that all the contentions of the Bank have been upheld. However, while moulding the relief, it was held as follows: "In CMP No. 3695/1993 a Division Bench of this Court on 13.12.1993 passed interim order staying the operation of Annexure P-5 dated 26.11.1991. The petitioners were allowed to continue to avail the Special Area Allowance as they have been availing before the impugned order was passed. Subsequently, on 21.9.1994 it was clarified that by the aforesaid stay order dated 13th December, 1993 the operation of Annexure P-5 has been stayed and for that reasons the petitioners and its members are not entitled to claim any benefit under the said order. They will, however, continue to get the allowance as they were getting before the aforesaid order and the stay order was directed to be read in the context of the said explanation. Now if after order dated 21.9.1994 the petitioners have been paid Special Area Allowance and Hill and Fuel Allowance by respondents 1 & 2 to their employees till date they shall be entitled to draw only the higher of the two allowances and if excess payment is made to them, it shall only be just and proper not to recover any excess amount already paid to them. (See Sahib Ram vs. State of Haryana and others, 1995 Supp (1) SCC 18, Shyam Babu Verma and others vs. Union of India and others (1994) 2 SCC 521, Nand Kishore Sharma and others vs. State of Bihar and others, 1995 sup. (3) SCC 722, B.S. Sindhu vs. Union of India and others, 1971 (1) S.L.R. 600 and S.H. Shirekar vs. Union of India and others, 1985 (1) SLR 144."