Central Board of Trustees Vs Poppys Knitwear Pvt. Ltd. (Madras High Court)
In Madras High Court, the Central Board of Trustees, Employees Provident Fund, represented by the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-II, filed an intra-court appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent challenging an order of the writ court which had held that the Board of Trustees had no authority to maintain a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
The dispute arose after the competent authority under the Employees Provident Fund Act passed an order under Section 14B of the Act on 31.05.2016. Aggrieved by the order, the establishment filed an appeal before the Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal under Section 7-I of the Act. The Tribunal passed orders against the Organisation, following which the Central Board of Trustees instituted a writ petition before the High Court.
The appellant contended that the Union of India represented by the Central Board of Trustees was an aggrieved person and therefore entitled to maintain a writ petition under Article 226. It was submitted that the appellant had contested the matter before the Tribunal and was directly affected by the Tribunal’s decision. Reliance was placed on a resolution of the Central Provident Fund Commissioner authorising the Central Board of Trustees to institute, file, conduct, prosecute, and defend civil and criminal proceedings. It was also argued that if the Board were denied the right to challenge Tribunal orders, then decisions of the Tribunal would become final without further judicial scrutiny by the High Court or Supreme Court.
