Rejection of higher pension applications under the guise of Trust Rules should be reviewed…

Rejection of higher pension applications under the guise of Trust Rules should be reviewed…
Kerala High Court…*

The Kerala High Court has directed the EPFO regional authorities to review the action taken by the Supreme Court on 4.11.2022 to reject applications for higher pension proportionate to higher salary (Joint option for POHW) on the basis of the Supreme Court’s judgment. The court issued the interim order in three cases filed challenging the strange order that retirees from such exempted institutions are not eligible for higher pension as employers have amended the Trust rule after the Supreme Court’s judgment.

The court examined the circular issued by the EPFO Central Commissioner to all regional commissioners in India on 23.05.2025 as the basis for this order.
This circular has strongly criticized the practice of rejecting applications on trivial grounds without conducting the necessary checks. It is alleged that the circular check, which indicates that employers and applicants are not given an opportunity to correct even minor errors in the applications, is being used as a trial and a mere farce to find reasons only to reject applications. The court, which listed these matters, verbally observed that the approach of the authorities reflects an atrocious attitude that should never arise from a public system. Senior counsel appearing for the management strongly argued that the stance of the Provident Fund authorities in rejecting the applications is completely illegal and that the rejection action should be reviewed.
A petition filed by 44 pensioners, including Vikraman Nair, who retired from the Bharat Petroleum Cochin Refinery. The court passed the order after hearing three petitions, including those of Mrs. Pushpa, who retired from the refinery, and Rose Antony, who retired from the BPCL marketing department, who had not received pension despite paying lakhs of rupees to the pension fund as per the demand letter of the EPFO. The case will be considered again after the Onavadi vacation for further arguments.

Advocates S. Krishnamurthy, V. Krishnankutty, B. Balagopalan, Sreedevi Radhakrishnan, and Prabhakaramarar appeared for the petitioners and senior advocate Benny Thomas appeared for the employers.