JOSEPH VARGHESE Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in this bunch of writ petitions are employees of the State Co-operative Bank and the District Co-operative Banks. They challenge the orders of exclusion purportedly passed under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (the 'Act for short). I shall refer to the parties and the exhibits in WP(C) No. 15150/2011 for the sake of convenience. Two of the writ petitions have been filed seeking to enforce the exclusion orders impugned in the other writ petitions. The petitioners enrolled themselves under the Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 framed under Section 6A of the Act while in service. The petitioners retired from service during the years 2000-2005 and have since been drawing pension under the scheme aforesaid. The disbursement was abruptly halted by an order of exclusion passed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation. Ext. P3 is the order of exclusion passed by the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner I, Kerala. It inter alia reads as follows:

(2.) Section 16(1) of the Act which has been called in aid by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is extracted below:

(3.) It could thus be seen that there is a statutory exclusion under sub clauses (a), (b) and (c) of Section 16(1) of the Act of the establishments mentioned therein. Section 16(1)(a) clarifies that the Act does not apply to any establishment registered under the Co-operative Societies Act employing less than fifty persons and working without the aid of power. The State Co-operative Bank and the District Co-operative Banks admittedly employ more than fifty persons and hence there Is no statutory exclusion under Section 16(1)(a) of the Act. Section 16(1)(b) states that the Act does not apply if the establishment belongs to or is under the control of the Central Government or a State Government. It is settled law that there is no control of the State Government over the State Co-operative Bank and District Cooperative Banks registered under the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969. Reference in this connection to P. Bhaskaran & others v. Additional Secretary & others, 1987 2 KerLT 903 and Thalapalam Service Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Union of India, 2009 3 KerLT 1001 profitable.