Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: August 17, 2022 at 17:47 IST
The Kerala High Court recently ruled in K Aravindan & Ors. v. State of Kerala & Anr. that pensions cannot be paid to retired employees solely at the whims and fancy of the employers and that the right to pension is a constitutional right.
Justice VG Arun noted that pension is a deferred salary and that the right to it is comparable to the right to property under Article 300A of the Indian Constitution by citing the Supreme Court’s judgments in DS Nakara & Ors v. Union of India and Sudhir Chandra Sarkar v. Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd.
The Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS), which is wholly owned by the Keralan government and prints and provides textbooks to the Education Department, filed a batch of petitions, many of which were moved by numerous present and retired employees. The petitions were heard by the court.
From April 1981, the employees of the society were covered by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. After its 1995 introduction, the Employees’ Pension Scheme was also made applicable.
Later, the KBPS made the decision to constitute a two-member committee to conduct the possibility of establishing a different pension fund for its employees and submit a report.
This was carried out in response to demands made by the labour unions, who cited the stark pay and pension disparities between government employees and KBPS employees, despite the latter’s full ownership by the former.
The committee suggested making pension payments in accordance with Part III of the Kerala Service Rules.
The government approved the 2014 Pension Regulations after due deliberation.
The dispute with the EPF Organisation and the delay in receiving back the EPF contribution are not acceptable as an excuse for non-payment of eligible pension to the retired employees,“ the Court held and allowed the petitions filed by both retired and present employees.