VIJAYAWADA: The High Court has directed the Telangana Housing Board to pay the pending General Provident Fund (GPF) dues of retired employees of the erstwhile undivided AP Housing Board within eight weeks, observing that employees should not be made victims of administrative delays relating to the division of assets and liabilities between the two States.
Justice Nimmagadda Venkateswarlu further directed that if the dues were not paid within the stipulated period, the amount would carry 12% annual interest from the respective dates of retirement until the date of payment.
The HC directed the Central government to complete the division of assets and liabilities between the AP and Telangana Housing Boards at the earliest. It held that the non-settlement of disputes relating to the division of assets and liabilities could not be cited as a reason for withholding the retirement benefits of employees.
Retirement benefits are not a matter of government charity, generosity or benevolence, the Court observed.
The HC noted that this principle applies with greater force to GPF, as the amount represents regular deductions from an employee’s salary.
The HC noted that nearly `8.77 crore in GPF funds relating to employees of the erstwhile Housing Board were under the control of the Telangana Housing Board. It directed the Board to release the GPF dues relating to the period prior to bifurcation, along with applicable interest. The payments could be adjusted between the two Housing Boards during the division of assets and liabilities, the HC clarified.
Following the bifurcation under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the erstwhile Housing Board was divided into the AP Housing Board and Telangana Housing Board. Several employees who had served the undivided Board for decades continued their service in the AP Housing Board after bifurcation and later retired. Though they received GPF dues for the post-bifurcation period, the amounts deducted during their service in the undivided Board remained in accounts under the control of the Telangana Housing Board.
The retired employees approached the High Court seeking payment of their pending GPF and other retirement benefits. The Telangana Housing Board argued that the petitioners had worked and retired under the AP Housing Board and that the responsibility for their GPF accounts could not be shifted to Telangana.
The amicus curiae, Advocate Vadina Raviteja, submitted that the Telangana Housing Board was enjoying assets of the erstwhile Housing Board and contended that the entity enjoying the benefits of the assets should also bear the corresponding liabilities. After considering the submissions, the HC gave the directive to the Telangana Housing Board.