SBI told not to finalise options of merged bank officers
The High Court at Hyderabad on Thursday directed the Chairman and Chief General Manager of State Bank of India group not to finalise till June 15 the options given by the officers of five associated banks that were merged with State Bank of India.
Hyderabad: The High Court at Hyderabad on Thursday directed the Chairman and Chief General Manager of State Bank of India group not to finalise till June 15 the options given by the officers of five associated banks that were merged with State Bank of India.
Jusitce P Naveen Rao gave this direction while hearing a lunch motion moved by Associate Banks Officers Association (ABOA) and several other officers complaining that they had been asked to exercise options of choosing service conditions without giving clarification of those service conditions.
It may be recalled five associated banks -- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore – have been recently merged with the State Bank of India.
During the merger process the officers and employees had been asked to exercise their options relating to service conditions like pensions, leaves, promotions etc.
Senior counsel in Madras High Court, R Vaigai, placing her arguments on behalf of the ABOA informed the court that the employees were not opposing the merger but they were aggrieved by the manner in which their service conditions were being altered without giving any information.
Without giving information on the service conditions in SBI, the officers were being asked to chose whether they would opt for their earlier bank conditions or new conditions in SBI. She said many are apprehensive whether they would continue in the rank and grade they were in their respective banks before the merger. She pleaded for a direction from the court not to freeze the options received so far without giving clarity on the service conditions.
Appearing on behalf of SBI, senior counsel M Narender Reddy, informed the Court that there are thousands of officers and employees who have given their options and the bank is not in a position to finalise them immediately.
The judge directed the SBI not to finalise the options till June 15 and also directed it to file a detailed counter by June first week to when the matter has been adjourned.
