Mumbai: The Bombay High Court ordered the release of a businessman detained at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, ruling that authorities cannot confine a person in a criminal prison when the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Act mandates civil imprisonment.
Justice Riyaz Chagla, on March 17, noted that the EPF authorities had failed to provide a legally required hearing before arresting Vivek Pal, a partner in a firm accused of not paying Rs 50 lakh in EPF dues for 2011-2016.
Pal was arrested on February 3 based on a warrant issued by an EPF recovery officer. His lawyers argued that both the warrant and his detention were illegal. The EPF department opposed the plea and defended the arrest.
The court found that the recovery officer and the assistant provident fund commissioner had “coerced” Pal into signing an undertaking without a proper hearing. Additionally, the recovery notice was affixed to his residence instead of his firm. The HC ruled that the arrest did not meet the required legal preconditions under the EPF Act.
It also noted that the assistant PF commissioner had acknowledged a large company’s failure to comply with EPF laws but the recovery officer had not proceeded against it. The court emphasized that Mumbai’s lack of civil jails does not justify placing detainees in criminal prisons and ordered Pal’s immediate release, holding his confinement unlawful.
