A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has upheld a Single Judge's directive, dismissing an appeal by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) against the order to remit employees' and employer's contributions to the National Pension Scheme and the State Life Insurance Policy and Group Insurance Accounts. The Single Judge's decision, based on the deduction of employees' contributions from their salaries, found that the KSRTC was legally obligated to remit these amounts to the respective schemes.
The Division Bench, composed of Justice Alexander Thomas and Justice C Jayachandran, dismissed KSRTC's appeal, stating that there was no basis to challenge the Single Judge's judgment. The Division Bench concurred with the Single Judge's reasoning that the corporation's statutory responsibility was to remit the deducted amounts to the Contributory Pension Scheme. Failure to remit these funds after deduction could imply that the corporation had diverted the funds for other purposes, which could not be justified.
The KSRTC's financial challenges, as argued by the corporation, could not provide a valid reason for non-remittance of employees' contributions to the National Pension Scheme. The Division Bench firmly upheld the statutory obligations of the corporation to uphold employee pension rights and contributions to these schemes.
The original order by the Single Judge, issued on February 23, 2023, was contested by KSRTC, leading to this appeal. The Division Bench's dismissal of the appeal has reaffirmed the importance of adhering to the legal obligations concerning pension contributions, ensuring the financial security of employees.
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