The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved judgment in appeals filed by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) against a decision of the Kerala High Court setting aside amendments on “determination of pensionable salary” under the Employees Pension Scheme (EPS) of 1995 as “ultra vires”.
Appearing before the Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit, senior advocate Aryama Sundaram and advocate Rohini Musa, for the EPFO, said the EPS would face a “complete collapse” if the Kerala High Court judgment was allowed to hold fort.
Mr. Sundaram said the High Court judgment would effectively mean that every private sector employee should be paid a pension irrespective of his salary limit. Every private sector employee would opt for pension and claim it based on the last drawn salary that yields 50% of the pensionable salary, despite the fact that he did not contribute to the fund.
