The Supreme Court (sc) on Tuesday reserved its judgement in a case of pension benefits to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) retired employees who opted for golden handshake scheme in 1997 in pursuance of the SBP officers (pension-cum-gratuity) regulations.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry with Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani reserved the judgement while hearing civil petitions for leave to appeal filed by SBP and others against Sindh High Court (SHC) decision that directed the bank to pay pension benefits to former employees Imtiaz Ali Khan and 202 others who opted for golden handshake scheme in 1997.
During the day-long hearing, Khalid Anwar represented the SBP whereas Abdul Rahim Bhatti appeared before the bench on behalf of 199 former employees of the Bank. Khalid Anwar argued that in the case of SBP officers, pension-cum-gratuity regulations were not applicable as they voluntarily opted for the golden handshake scheme instead of retiring from service.
Anwar contended that the SBP was ready to pay pension benefits to any employee who retired after the completion of 25 years of service but in the present case, nobody was entitled, so nothing could be offered to them. Abdul Rahim Bhatti pleaded that the petitioners had opted, for the golden handshake scheme on the maturity of their 10 years service. He contended that it was agreed in the scheme that they would be entitled for retirement benefits - available under the existing rules and regulations of the SBP.
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