Bengal transport body defaults on PF payments to retirees, Calcutta HC issues contempt notice

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) State-run Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) has attracted the ire of a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court for allegedly defaulting in paying off the provident fund dues to some retired employees of the corporation, even after a clear order from the court last year.

In an order passed on Thursday, the copy of which had surfaced on Friday, the single-judge bench of Justice Arindam Mukherjee issued a rule of contempt against some officials of the state government and CSTC, including the chairman of the CSTC Employees Provident Fund Trust and maverick Trinamool Congress legislator Madan Mitra, in the matter.

As per the rule, all concerned will have to be physically present at the court on the next date of hearing on July 4 and explain to the court why there was a default in payment of provident fund dues to the employees concerned. They will also have to explain why action against them will not be initiated by the court.

To recall, in July last year, the Calcutta High Court ordered immediate payment of provident fund dues to the employees concerned, who approached the court after not getting their dues even after the lapse of a substantial period after their retirements.

However, even after the clear order from the court last year, the employees concerned did not receive their provident fund dues, following which they filed a contempt-of-court petition against the corporation at the Calcutta High Court.

The single-judge bench also expressed ire at why the provident fund dues of the employees concerned were not cleared despite clear instructions from the court.

The contempt-of-court petition was filed in December last year. The first hearing in the matter was in February this year, and since then, there have been follow-up hearings in the matter. Finally, on Thursday, the court issued a rule of contempt against the persons concerned.

--IANS

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