Himachal Pradesh High Court
Firoz Khan vs H.P. State Forest Corporation & ... on 16 November, 2023
Bench: Ranjan Sharma
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
AT SHIMLA
CWP No.5777 of 2023
Decided on: 16th November, 2023
___________________________________________________________
.
Firoz Khan ....Petitioner
Versus
H.P. State Forest Corporation & ors. ....Respondents
Coram
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ranjan Sharma, Judge
1 Whether approved for reporting?
For the petitioner : Mr. A.K. Gupta, Advocate.
For the respondents : Mr. Abhishek Nagta, Advocate,
r for respondents No.1 & 2.
Mr. Vijay Kumar Arora, Advocate,
for respondent No.3.
Ranjan Sharma, Judge (Oral)
The petitioner, nearing his retirement from the
post of Supervisor in Rosin and Turpentine Factory, Nahan,
District Sirmaur, has filed the instant writ petition, with the
following prayer(s):-
i) "That the respondent-EPF Commissioner may be
directed to update the amount of EPF of the
petitioner and the missing amount for the period
Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes
2009-2010 and further years may be ordered to
be credited to the account of the petitioner with
immediate effect, with all benefits incidental
thereof."
.
2. Case of the petitioner, in brief, is that he was
engaged as a unskilled worker under Rosin and Turpentine
Factory, Nahan. He was promoted as Supervisor in the
aforesaid factory which is owned and controlled by the
Himachal Pradesh State Forest Corporation. The petitioner
is an EPF account holder and had been continuously
subscribing towards his EPF account from time to time. His
case is that though he had contributed towards EPF account
in the year 2009-2010 and further in the years 2012 & 2014
but, the aforesaid contribution has not been accounted
towards his EPF account. Due to this, the petitioner
apprehends that the respondents No.1 to 3 shall deprive him
all the benefit of employees of the Provident Fund on his
retirement.
3. The H.P. State Forest Corporation has filed a
reply on the affidavit of Mr. Sanjay Sood, Executive Director,
Himachal Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation
Ltd. on 04.10.2023. Para 4 of the reply affidavit reveals that
the Corporation has remitted the EPF contribution for
the period from April, 2009 to March, 2010 and then from
April, 2012 to June, 2014 in the EPF account of the
.
petitioner comprising of both the ingredients i.e. employee
and employers share. The relevant Para 4 of the reply affidavit
reads as under:-
"4. That the contents in para No.4 which are
contrary to the record are wrong and denied.
However EPF contribution for the period April
2009 to March 2010, April 2012 and June 2014
has not been reflected in his account. It is further
submitted that the Replying Respondent
Corporation has deposited the EPF both employees
and employer share of all the employees in the
Establishment code No.11849. A copy of bank
challan for the period under dispute is appended
herewith as Annexure R-4 (colly)."
4. In view of the averments made in Para 4
of the reply affidavit, above, no further action is required
to be done by Respondents No.1 and 2 (except to the extent,
that as and when the petitioner superannuates from service)
shall send intimation about the factum of retirement,
including the upto date Statement of Contribution of
Employee's share and Employer's Share to the Respondent
No.3" i.e. Employees Provident Fund Organization, SDA
Complex Kasumpti, Shimla, within a week from retirement.
On receipt of information, the respondent No.3 is directed
.
to process and release, the EPF benefits, in accordance
with law, to the petitioner within 15 days, thereafter.
No further orders are required and the matter is closed.
In aforesaid terms, the writ petition as well as
the pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, shall also
r to
stand disposed of, accordingly.
(Ranjan Sharma)
Judge
November 16, 2023
(shivender)
