The Madras High Court granted an interim stay of a clause in 9th bipartite settlement for bank employees

   The Madras High Court has granted an interim  stay of a clause in the ninth bipartite settlement for bank employees of April  this year requiring contributory provident fund optees to become pension optees
upon contributing 2.8 times of the revised pay payable for November 2007 onwards  to the Pension Fund.

   Justice K Venkataraman passed the interim order  on a petition by the Canara Bank Workers Union, Nungambakkam and one R  Radhakrishnan of Nungambakkam, a member of the managing committee of the union.

   The petitioners submitted that in the previous  pension settlement dated October 29, 1993 and Pension Regulations 1995, there  was a provision only for transfer of banks’ contribution to the PF account along
with accrued interest. There was no provision for payment or transfer of any  other additional amount. While in the seventh and eighth bipartite  settlements all employees (both pension and PF optees) had contributed to fund
the gap in the Pension Fund, in the present settlement dated April 27, the  entire load had been placed only on those employees who wanted to opt for  pension now, while the existing pension optees were left free. The contemplated  recovery exclusively from the PF optees who wished to join the Pension Fund now  amounted to discrimination and was violative of the Constitution.