The petitioners in this writ petition were employees of the 1st respondent Company which is a fully owned Government Company owned by the Government of Kerala. They had opted for the benefit of Voluntary Retirement Scheme floated by the Company and had separated from the Company with effect from 01.08.2003. Their applications, for consideration under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, were accepted by the Company and this fact is not disputed by the petitioners. The claim of the petitioners is in respect of the enhanced dearness allowance that was sanctioned for Government servants and which benefit was subsequently adopted by the Company for its employees. The petitioners claim that although they had separated from the Company under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, they are also eligible to get the benefit of enhanced dearness allowance that was available to employees of the Company who continued their employment and did not opt for the VRS Scheme. It is their case that, as on the cut-off date specified in the Government orders enhancing the DA, they were also employees of the Company. The claim of the petitioners is resisted by the respondent Company which contends that the petitioners cannot claim parity with persons who were employees of the Company on the cut-off date stipulated in the Government orders but did not opt for the VRS Scheme. It is contended that since the petitioners had opted for a special package of compensation under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, they formed a separate class distinct from those employees who had chosen to remain with the Company or superannuated there from in course of time.
2. On a consideration of the submissions made on either side and the decisions brought to my notice in the course of arguments, I find that the issue is now squarely covered against the petitioners by the decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in A.K.Bindal and another v. Union of India and others [(2003) 5 SCC 163] and also Hec Voluntary Retired Employees Welfare Society and Another v. Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd. And Others [JT 2006 (3) SC 102] wherein the Supreme Court has clearly held that the employees who retire by opting for a Voluntary Retirement Scheme stand on a different footing from persons who retired from the establishment in the normal course by superannuation, when it comes to claiming the benefits of enhanced dearness allowance under Government orders issued from time to time.
Under these circumstances, following the law laid down by the Supreme Court on the issue, I dismiss the writ petition without any order as costs.
mns/ A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR JUDGE