Snehal Upadhyay-
Published on: August 13, 2021 at 12:35 IST
Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of a bundle of petitions filed by the Union of India and Employees Provident Fund Organization (“EPFO”) against the judgments that stated that employees’ pension could not be restricted at Rs 15,000 and that the same should be proportional to the last drawn salary.
The Division Bench comprising Justice UU Lalit and Justice Ajay Rastogi while adjourning the matters stated that “We’ll mark this matter as part-heard and we will put it as item 1 on Tuesday. At this stage, we will not be able to do anything but only list it as part-heard. We’ll start with the lead matters first and any counsel appearing in the lead matter, we’ll hear them first.”
In October 2018, Kerala High Court permitted the writ petitions which were filed by employees of various establishments covered by the provisions of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Their issue was with the changes brought by the Employees’ Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014, which thoroughly decreased the pension payable to them.
On February 25, 2021, the Division Bench of Justice UU Lalit and Justice KM Joseph had decided that the matter shall be taken on day to day basis and had also listed the important matters.
The Bench had put a restrain on the High Court of Kerala, Delhi, and Rajasthan from starting any contempt proceeding against the Central Government and the EPFO over non-implementation of the HC verdicts.
“Pending further consideration, no contempt application seeking implementation of any of the orders passed in the aforesaid four categories of matters shall be taken up by any Court,” the order stated.
The Central Government concerning orders issued by the High Court states that this will benefit the employees retrospectively, but would adversely create a great imbalance.
On 1st April 2019, the Constitutional Bench comprising the CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta, and Justice Sanjiv Khanna in line dismissed the SLP filed by Employees Provident Fund Organisation stating that the Court does not find any merit in it.
The cases will be heard daily from August 17.
Click here to Read/Download the Order
Also Read: Supreme Court to consider review petition in EPF pension case: All you need to know