Q: I resigned due to ill health from a Mumbai-based company. I was working in the company’s Calcutta branch. On leaving the job, I claimed my Provident Fund dues through our Mumbai office. I got a letter from the Mumbai office, stating that my claim form had been submitted to the regional PF office in Maharashtra and that I should pursue the matter with that office. I wrote to the Maharashtra PF office enquiring about the status of my claim but was informed that my claim form had not been submitted to the PF office. I have written several letters to the company but haven’t received any response. What do I do to recover my dues? Can the company withhold my PF dues on any ground?

Name withheld

A: To answer your second query first, your PF dues cannot be lawfully withheld by your erstwhile employer on any ground. More so when no monetary claim or no allegation of misconduct, dereliction of duty, etc, have been made against you by the company. You may refer to Section 10 of the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 and to Section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, which protect the PF dues of a former employee from attachment even under any decree or order of any court.

As regards your first query, your remedy is provided by Sections 8 and 8B to 8G of the 1952 Act read with Sections 2 (aa) and 2(kB) of that Act. You should apply to the Regional PF Commissioner, Maharashtra, with evidence in support of your claim and if he is satisfied with your claim, he may issue to the Recovery Officer defined in the Act, a certificate specifying the amount of your PF dues. The Recovery Officer shall then recover such amount from your former employer by one or more of the modes mentioned in Section 8B of the Act, and make over the money to you.

Q: I was an employee of a Statutory Corporation. False charges of receiving illegal gratification were brought against me and a departmental enquiry was initiated. Criminal action was also initiated under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, based on the same set of facts, charges, evidence and witnesses. During the pendency of the criminal action, the domestic enquiry was concluded, upholding the charges against me and I was dismissed from service. About three months back, the criminal court acquitted me of the same charges on the basis of the evidence as was there before the enquiry officer in the domestic enquiry. I have always felt that I was made a scapegoat by my superior officers, who are actually guilty of the charges that were levelled against me. Can I now challenge the order of dismissal in view of my acquittal by the criminal court?

Name withheld

A: My advice would be to challenge the enquiry report and the order of termination of service passed pursuant thereto before the appropriate high court by way of a writ petition. You may refer to a recent Supreme Court decision reported in (2006) 5 Supreme Court Cases 446, which held that when on identical facts, charges and evidence, a court of law acquits the accused person, the decision of the employer or the enquiry officer holding him guilty of the same charges warrants reversal. Please note that this advice is on the assumption that the facts, charges, witnesses and evidence in both the domestic enquiry and the criminal action were identical.