From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: A new combination of three judges will hear a bunch of appeals filed by the Employees Provident Organisation (EPFO) on the disbursement of EPF pension to employees to their salary.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted the appeal to Friday, but presiding judge Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said the Court won’t hear the arguments that day, but provide clarity on when the appeals would be heard.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat recused after the EPFO counsel complained that he was part of the Rajasthan High Court Bench that had passed an order in the matter. On the anvil are the judgments of Rajasthan, Delhi and Kerala High Courts that had quashed the Employees Pension (Amendment) Scheme 2014. Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia is the third judge of the Bench.
The development will further delay the judgment. The matter was referred to the 3-judge Bench in August last year by a 2-judge division bench, citing the legalities involved.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Advocate Aryama Sundaram representing EPFO said Justice Bhat was part of the Rajasthan High Court bench passing a judgment on the matter and moreover a lawyer, who was his junior, was representing the respondents.
Justice Bhat suggested that the appeals against the Rajasthan High Court judgment could be heard separately or he could recuse from hearing the case. After consulting the two judges, Justice Lalit said the petitions against the Kerala High Court will be considered first.
Justice Lalit also referred to the long wait in forming the three-judge bench and the practical difficulties in forming new combination of the judges.
Besides his Bench, there is only one court room having three-judge combination: Bench No one, headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana. He said he would consult the Chief Justice.
The Court rejected the petitioners’ request for an order to prevent any other High Courts passing different judgments in the PF-related cases.
WHAT’S THE CASE: The amended Employee’s Pension (Amendment) Scheme in 2014 scrapped the then existing option to provide pension proportionate to the salary. It also amended the norm that fixed the pension based on 12-month average salary to 60-month average.
Quashing the amendments in 2018, the Kerala High Court nullified the orders of the EPFO against awarding pension proportionate to the salary. The Supreme Court is seized of the petitions by the Labour Ministry and EPFO since then, challenging the High Court verdict.
A review petition was filed after the apex court had rejected the EPFO’s plea. The three-judge bench has been considering various legal issues involved in the plea and in the orders of various high courts.
