Prakash Madhukar Pathak vs. Union Of India

ITEM NO. 13+5 COURT NO.3 SECTION XI-A (HEARING THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCING)

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (C) Nos.8658-8659/2019

(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 12-10-2018 in WPC No.602/2015, 12-10-2018 in WPC No.13120/2015 passed by the High Court Of Kerala At Ernakulam)

THE EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION & ANR. Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

SUNIL KUMAR B & ORS.

WITH

$W.P.(C)$ No.233/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.69/2018 (X) (IA No.14965/2018 - FOR EX-PARTE STAY)

$W.P.(C)$ No.141/2018 (X) (IA No.26357/2018 - FOR EX-PARTE STAY)

W.P.(C) No.118/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.250/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.380/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.406/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.368/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.393/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.395/2018 (X)

W.P.(C) No.371/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C) No.374/2018 (X)$

Signal $\mathbb{R}^{\text{H}}$ NO.372/2018 (X) ally signed by Dr<br>esh Nasa<br> $\therefore$ 2021 by 24

11:16 $\mathbb{R}^{115}_{\text{Res}}$ P. (C) NO. 385/2018 (X)

$W.P.(C)$ No.367/2018 (X)

Respondent $(s)$

W.P.(C) No.369/2018 (X) W.P.(C) No.360/2018 (X) (FOR ADMISSION) W.P.(C) No.411/2018 (X) (FOR ADMISSION; and, IA No.63451/2018 – FOR APPROPRIATE ORDERS/ DIRECTIONS) W.P.(C) No.466/2018 (X) W.P.(C) No.804/2018 (X) W.P.(C) No.594/2018 (X) (IA No.79752/2018 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE SYNOPSIS AND LIST OF DATES) W.P.(C) No.884/2018 (X) (IA No.170508/2019 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT; and, IA No.146221/2019 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT) W.P.(C) No.778/2018 (X) (IA No.69081/2019 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT; and, IA No. 170449/2018 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT) W.P.(C) No.874/2018 (X) (IA No.44627/2019 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT) W.P.(C) No.1149/2018 (X) (IA No.117553/2019 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/ FACTS/ANNEXURES; and, IA No.144028/2018 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES) W.P.(C) No.1167/2018 (X) W.P.(C) No.1134/2018 (X) (IA No.51450/2020 - FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING ORIGINAL VAKALATNAMA/OTHER DOCUMENT; and, IA No. 51446/2020 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT) CONMT.PET.(C) No.1917-1918/2018 in C.A. Nos.10013-10014/2016 (XIV-A) (IA No.85695/2019 - FOR DELETING THE NAME OF PETITIONER/RESPONDENT; IA No.147085/2018 - FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.; IA No.147082/2018 - FOR PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION) W.P.(C) No.1430/2018 (X) W.P.(C) No.1433/2018 (X) W.P.(C) No.1428/2018 (X)

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W.P.(C) No.390/2019 (X) (IA No.43954/2019 - FOR EX-PARTE STAY) W.P.(C) No.269/2019 (X) (FOR ADMISSION) W.P.(C) No.875/2019 (X) W.P.(C) No.349/2019 (X) (FOR ADMISSION) W.P.(C) No.327/2019 (X) (IA No.43329/2019 - FOR EX-PARTE STAY; and, IA No.84636/2019 - FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT) W.P.(C) No.466/2019 (X) W.P.(C) No.352/2019 (X) (IA No.46449/2019 – FOR STAY) SLP(C) Nos.16721-16722/2019 (XI-A) (IA No.6498/2021 – FOR EX-PARTE STAY; IA No.109139/2020 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT; IA No.109137/2020 – FOR INTERVENTION/ IMPLEADMENT; IA No.6497/2021 – FOR PERMISSION TO PLACE ADDITIONAL FACTS AND GROUNDS) W.P.(C) No.512/2019 (X) (IA No.92886/2019 – FOR INTERVENTION APPLICATION) W.P.(C) No.511/2019 (X) W.P.(C) No.500/2019 (X) (IA No.62534/2019 – FOR EX-PARTE STAY; IA No.86926/2019 – FOR INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT; and, IA No.86923/2019 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES) CONMT.PET.(C) Nos.619-620/2019 in C.A. Nos.10013-10014/2016 (XIV-A) (FOR ADMISSION) W.P.(C) No.601/2019 (X) (IA No.73827/2019 – FOR EX-PARTE STAY) W.P.(C) No.1312/2019 (X) W.P.(C) No.832/2019 (X) (IA No.98935/2020 – FOR EARLY HEARING) SLP(C) No.3289/2021 (XV) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R.; IA No.10606/2021 - FOR PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES; and, IA No.11707/2021 - FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)

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SLP(C) No.2465/2021 (XV) (IA No.16619/2021 - FOR PERMISSION; IA No.11703/2021 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES; and, IA No.9097/2021 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES)

SLP(C) No.3287/2021 (XV) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R.; IA No.10568/2021 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES; and, IA No.11699/2021 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)

Diary No.46219/2019 (XIV) (IA No.8907/2021 - FOR PERMISSION; IA No.6618/2021 - FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING; IA No.6619/2021 - FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN REFILING/CURING THE DEFECTS; IA No.6620/2021 - FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT; and, IA No. 6621/2021 - FOR PERMISSION TO FILE SYNOPSIS AND LIST OF DATES)

W.P.(C) No.1218/2020 (X)

SLP(C) No.1366/2021 (XIV) (IA No.9495/2021 - FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT; IA No.43588/2021 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES; IA No.12062/2021 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES; and, IA No.9494/2021 - PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES)

W.P.(C) No.1459/2020 (X) (FOR ADMISSION; and, IA No.134289/2020 – FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.)

W.P.(C) No.1332/2020 (X)

SLP(C) No.3290/2021 (XV) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R.; IA No.12571/2021 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES; and, IA No.12572/2021 – FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)

W.P.(C) No.86/2021 (X) (FOR ADMISSION)

SLP(C) No.1738/2021 (XIV) (IA No.12492/2021 - FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/ FACTS/ANNEXURES; and, IA No.12575/2021 - PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES)

SLP(C) No.1701/2021 (XIV) (IA No.39682/2021 - FOR SUBSTITUTION; IA No.40330/2021 – FOR SUBSTITUTION; IA No.69729/2021 - FOR SUBSTITUTION; IA No.69717/2021 - FOR APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS; IA No.76487/2021 - FOR APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS; IA No.49239/2021 - FOR APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS; IA No.69732/2021 - FOR APPROPRIATE ORDERS/ DIRECTIONS; IA No.39672/2021 - FOR CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION; IA No.40085/2021 - FOR CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION; IA No.40332/2021 - FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING SUBSTITUTION APPLICATION; IA No.70979/2021 - FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING SUBSTITUTION APPLICATION; IA No.12234/2021 - FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT; IA No.69714/2021 - FOR INTERVENTION; IA No.39667/2021 - FOR INTERVENTION; IA No.76485/2021 - FOR INTERVENTION; IA No.49234/2021 - FOR INTERVENTION; IA No.40084/2021 - FOR INTERVENTION; IA No.69726/2021 - FOR INTERVENTION; IA No.12486/2021 - FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES; IA No.12233/2021 - FOR PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES; IA No.70981/2021 - FOR SETTING ASIDE AN ABATEMENT)

W.P.(C) No.414/2021 (X) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R.)

SLP(C) No.8547/2021 (XI-A) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R.; IA No.74627/2021 – FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT; and, IA No.74628/2021 - FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT)

W.P.(C) No.477/2021 (X) (FOR ADMISSION and I.R.)

Date : 20-07-2021 These petitions were called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UDAY UMESH LALIT HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY RASTOGI

Counsel for the Parties:

Mr. K.K. Venugopal, Attorney General Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, ASG Mr. R. Balasubramanian, Sr. Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Mr. Chinmayee Chandra, Adv. Mr. Suvesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Ankur Talwar, Adv. Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Mr. R. Venkataramani, Sr. Adv. Mr. M. Gireesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Ankur S. Kulkarni, AOR Mr. Sreenath, Adv. Mr. C. Aryama Sundaram, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddharth, AOR Mr. Rohini Musa, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Adv.

Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Purushottam Sharma Tripathi, AOR Mr. Ravi Chandra Prakash, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Raghav Tankha, Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Purushottam Sharma Tripathi, AOR Mr. Ravi Chandra Prakash, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Vani Vyas, Adv. Ms. Sujata Muni, Adv. Mr. Amit, Adv. Mr. L. Nidhiram Sharma, Adv. Mr. Mohan Parasaran, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ashwin Kumar DS, Adv. Ms. Aditi Dani, Adv. Mr. Vishnu Kumar, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR Mr. R. Basant, Sr. Adv. Mr. Raghenth Basant, Adv. Ms. Rasna Kalkat, Adv. Mr. Vishnu Pazhangana, Adv. Mr. Akshay Sahay, Adv. Ms. Liz Mathew, AOR Mr. P.N. Ravindran, Sr. Adv. Mr. Roy Abraham, Adv. Ms. Reena Roy, Adv. Ms. Seema Jain, Adv. Ms. Smitha Rani, Adv. Mr. Akhil Roy, Adv. Mr. Himinder Lal, AOR Ms. Meenakshi Arora, Sr. Adv. Mr. Udayaditya Banerjee, AOR Ms. Kirti Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Ritin Rai, Sr. Adv. Mr. Udayaditya Banerjee, AOR Mr. Aman Shukla, Adv. Ms. Kirti Aggarwal, Adv.

Mr. Dhruv Mehta, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rajesh Gupta, Adv. Mr. Harpreet Singh, Adv. Mr. Ajay Chandra, Adv. Mr. Pranjal Saran, Adv. Mr. Sumit R. Sharma, AOR Mr. Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv. Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR Ms. Briti Rekha Mahanta, Adv. Mr. Jamshed Pesi Cama, Sr. Adv. Mr. Benny P. Thomas, Adv. Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR Mr. A.N.S. Nadkarni, Sr. Adv. Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR Mr. Bharat Sood, Adv. Ms. Shruti Jose, Adv. Mr. Sachin Datta, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rahul Kaushik, AOR Ms. Bhuvneshwari Pathak, Adv. Ms. Shilpi Satyapriya Satyam, Adv. Mr. Ritin Rai, Sr. Adv. Mr. Neeraj Chaudhary, Adv. Ms. Pooja Dhar, AOR Ms. Rashmi Verma, Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Ms. Pooja Dhar, AOR Mr. Shrutanjaya Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR Mr. C.M. Sundaram Iyer, Adv. Mr. Arijit Prasad, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, Adv. Mr. Meenesh Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Rajiv Kumar, AOR Dr. K.P. Kylasanatha Pillay, Sr. Adv. Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR Mr. Mahesh Menon, Adv. Dr. K.P. Kylasanatha Pillay, Sr. Adv. Ms. Rashmi Singhania, AOR Mr. Mahesh Menon, Adv.

Dr. Kylashanatha Pilay, Sr. Adv. Mr. V. Chitambaresh, Sr. Adv. Ms. Rashmi Singhania, AOR Mr. Mahesh Menon, Adv. Ms. Aparajita Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rahul Pratap, AOR Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR Mr. Bharat Sood, Adv. Ms. Shruti Jose, Adv. Mr. Aditya Dhawan, Adv. Ms. Anjali Chauhan, Adv. Ms. Ria Sachthey, Adv. M/s. ARS Associates, AOR Mr. Gaurav Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Ms. Anu K. Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Bahar U. Barqui, Adv. Mohd. Maroof, Adv. Mr. M.Z. Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. Syed Imtiyaz Ali, Adv. Mr. Ali Safeer Farooqi, Adv. Mr. Aftab Ali Khan, AOR Md. Shahid Anwar, AOR Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Adv. Mr. Intakhab Alam, Adv. Mr. Rashid Izhar, Adv. Dr. Bhim Pratap Singh, Adv. Mohd. Naseem Mughal, Adv. Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra, AOR Mr. Manoj Pandey, Adv. Mr. Umakant Mishra, Adv. Mr. Niranjan Sahu, Adv. Mr. V.N. Koura, Adv. Mr. Paramjeet Benipal, Adv. Mr. Avneesh Arputham, AOR M/s. Arputham Aruna & Co, AOR Mr. Akash Kakade, Adv. Mr. Neelmani Pant, Adv. Mr. Swetab Kumar, Adv. Mr. Somanatha Padhan, AOR

Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR Mr. Kartik Nayar, Adv. Ms. Sunaina Phul, Adv. Mr. Rishab Kumar, Adv. Mr. Girijesh Pandey, Adv. Mr. Ramjee Pandey, AOR Mr. Raghvendra Shukla, Adv. Mr. Sameer Parekh, Adv. Mr. D.P. Mohanty, Adv. Ms. S. Lakshmi Iyer, Adv. Mr. Ishan Nagar, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Gaur, Adv. M/s. Parekh & Co., AOR Mr. Rakesh Mishra, AOR Mr. Sunil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Satyam Pandey, Adv. Ms. Nandini Gore, Adv. Ms. Natasha Sahrawat, Adv. Ms. Tahira Karanjawala, Adv. Mr. Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Adv. Mr. Shreyash Maheshwari, Adv. M/s. Karanjawala & Co., AOR Mr. Thampan Thomas, Adv. Mr. N.M. Varghese, Adv. Ms. Tessy Varghese, Adv. Mr. K. V. Mohan, AOR Mr. S. K. Bhattacharya, AOR Mr. L.K. Paonam, Adv. Ms. Tomthinnganbi Koijam, Adv. Mr. Niraj Bobby Paonam, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Sancheti, Adv. Ms. Padma Priya, Adv. Mr. Anchit Bhandari, Adv. Ms. Shreya Gupta, Adv. Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, AOR Mr. Ashish Bhan, Adv. Mr. Syed Jafar Alam, AOR Mr. Mohit Rohatgi, Adv. Mr. Rajendra Dangwal, Adv. Mr. Kaustub Narendran, Adv.

Mr. Tabrez Malawat, Adv. Mr. SPM Tripathi, Adv. Mr. V.K. Shukla, Adv. Mr. Sugam Mishra, Adv. Ms. Swagoti Batchas, Adv. Mr. Satish Kumar, AOR Mr. Devashish Bharukha, Adv. Mohammed Sadique T.A., AOR Ms. Anu K. Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Prasenjit Keswani, Adv. Mr. Upmanyu Tewari, Adv. Ms. Sonia Dube, Adv. Ms. Kanchan Yadav, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Anand, Adv. M/s. Legal Options, AOR Mr. R.K. Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Prashant Kumar, Adv. Ms. Ritu Arora, Adv. Mr. Santosh Kumar-I, AOR Mr. Santosh Krishnan, Adv. Mohd. Sadique, AOR Ms. Anu K. Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Manoj V. George, Adv. Mr. K. Panmei, Adv. Ms. Shilpa Liza George, AOR Ms. Anushka Sharda, Adv. Mr. Rohit Ghosh, Adv. M/s. Khaitan & Co., AOR Mr. Varinder Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Shantanu Sharma, Adv. Ms. Deeksha Gaur, Adv. Mr. P. A. Noor Muhamed, AOR Ms. Giffara S., Adv. Mr. Bilal Niamathulla, Adv. Ms. Ruxana P.N., Adv. Mr. R. Anand Padmanabhan, Adv. Ms. Devarati Sadhu, Adv. Mr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar, AOR Mr. Puneet Taneja, AOR Ms. Laxmi Kumari, Adv. Mr. Manmohan Singh, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Tripathi, Adv.

Mr. Arvind Gupta, AOR Mr. Rakesh Sinha, Adv. Md. Ghulam Akbar, Adv. Mr. Jeemon Raju K., Adv. Mr. Avinash Singh, Adv. Mr. Rohan Thawani, Adv. Ms. Pooja Dhar, AOR Mr. Iqram Singh, Adv. Mr. Kushal Daga, Adv. Mr. R.K. Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Rajat Kapoor, Adv. Ms. Kheyali Singh, AOR Mr. Anand Varma, AOR Mr. Abhishek Prasad, Adv. Ms. Astha Ahuja, Adv. Mr. Aditya Dhawan, Adv. Ms. Kiran Dhawan, Adv. Mr. Chander Shekhar Ashri, AOR Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Adv. Ms. Ikshita Singh, Adv. Mr. Gunnam Venkateswara Rao, AOR Mr. Raghenth Basant, Adv. Ms. Rasna Kalkat, Adv. Ms. Liz Mathew, AOR Mr. A.P. Singh, Adv. Ms. Neetica Sharma, Adv. M/s. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Mr. R.R. Kumar, Adv. Mr. Amrendra Kumar, Adv. Ms. Manjula Gupta, AOR Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR Mr. Atanu Saikia, Adv. Dr. Ashwani Bhardwaj, AOR Mr. Vinay Bhardwaj, Adv. Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, AOR Mr. Rahul Jain, Adv. Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Gupta, Adv. Mr. Manoj C. Mishra, AOR

Mr. Y. Rajagopala Rao, AOR Ms. Vismai Rao, Adv. Ms. Sangeeta Bharti, Adv. Mr. Sushil Kumar Singh, AOR Mr. Udayaditya Banerjee, AOR Ms. Kirti Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Ashish Rana, AOR Mr. Anurag Kr. Singh, Adv. Mr. Jagjit Singh Chhabra, AOR Mr. Saksham Maheshwari, Adv. Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Adv. Eshna Kumar, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Mittal, AOR Mr. Shashank Shekhar, Adv. Mr. Chander Shekhar Ashri, AOR Mr. Ankit Goel, AOR Mr. Lakshmeesh S. Kamath, AOR Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR Mr. Anil Nag, AOR Ms. Lalita Kaushik, AOR Mr. Y. Raja Gopala Rao, AOR Ms. Bharti Tyagi, AOR Mr. C.K. Sasi, AOR Mr. Preet Pal Singh, AOR Ms. Vandana Sehgal, AOR Mr. Anand Dilip Landge, AOR Mr. Pranesh, AOR

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

List these matters on 11.08.2021.

In the meantime, learned counsel for the parties are at liberty to file their Brief Synopsis/List of Dates.

(MUKESH NASA) (VIRENDER SINGH) COURT MASTER BRANCH OFFICER