In a major relief to pensioners, the Kerala High Court has quashed the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) decision to deny the option of a higher Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) pension to those who retired before September 1, 2014.

Allowing a batch of writ petitions, Justice P Gopinath held that the Supreme Court's October 4, 2016 judgment in the R C Gupta case applies to this category of retirees. The apex court had ruled that there was no time limit for exercising the option to join the higher pension scheme before September 2014.

The High Court observed that employees who had contributed to the EPF on higher salaries cannot be denied a higher pension merely because they had not exercised the option before retirement.

The court also set aside EPFO decisions that either reduced higher pension benefits or denied eligible retirees the opportunity to opt for the scheme. It further quashed orders seeking to recover higher pension amounts that had already been paid to pensioners. The court directed the EPFO to extend the benefits of the judgment within four months from July 22.