KARACHI, April 4: The Supreme Court has upheld an appeal by retired officers and executives of the National Bank for payment of the bank’s contribution to the employees provident fund, which was withheld since 1977.

The contribution was withheld following a policy decision taken on November 30, 1977. The decision was challenged by a writ petition before the Lahore High Court. The petition was dismissed by an LHC judge in 1982. An intra-court appeal against the dismissal was disallowed by a division bench in 1998. The employees approached the Supreme Court against the dismissal of their appeal.

Deciding the case in favour of the appellants, a Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Munir A. Sheikh, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Rana Bhagwandas, held last month that “the NBP employees were entitled to receive whole of the amount accumulated in their provident fund account, including the bank’s contribution to it, along with interest up to the date of payment”.

The act of withholding the bank’s contribution, the bench observed, was “illegal and without lawful authority and could not be sustained”.

The deceased employees’ dues under the Supreme Court judgment would be payable to their legal heirs with interest calculated till the date of payment, the bench directed.