A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday began the much-awaited hearing on an appeal filed by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) against a decision of the Kerala High Court setting aside amendments on the “determination of pensionable salary” under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) of 1995 as “ ultra vires”.
Appearing before a Bench of Justices U.U. Lalit, Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia, the EPFO, represented by senior advocate Aryama Sundaram and advocate Rohini Musa, argued that these amendments which came in September 2014 were meant to grant a "minima of guaranteed retiral benefits" to the most socio-economically vulnerable members of the Employees Provident Fund Scheme (EPFS).
Mr. Sundaram explained that from the arrival of the EPS in 1995 till the introduction of amendments on September 1, 2014, membership of the EPFS had entailed membership of the EPS. Both mandatory members and option members became entities to the EPS for reckoning pensionable salary up to the wage threshold.
