Central Board of Trustee Epf v. Mandya Milk Union Ltd.
Provident Fund – Liability of Federal/Apex Milk Union
Case brief
What is this about?
Division Bench (D K Singh and T.M.Nadaf JJ.) of the High Court of Karnataka, Bengaluru, in WA No. 146 of 2026 (L-PF), decided 03.07.2026, dismissed the EPF authorities' appeal under Section 4 of the Karnataka High Court Act. Sole issue: whether the Federal Milk Union (Apex Body) is liable to pay PF contribution of employees of different Milk Unions / Primary Co-operative Milk Societies. Court found it undisputed that the employees are controlled and employed by the individual Primary Societies with no employer-employee relationship with the Federal Milk Union, upheld the Single Judge's judgment in W.P.No.37725/2014 (L-PF), and declined to interfere. Keywords: provident fund contribution; employer-employee relationship; co-operative milk society; apex federal union; EPFO; Mandya Milk Union (MANMUL).
What did the court decide?
The employees are under the control, supervision and employment of the individual Primary Milk Co-operative Society, and there is no employer-employee relationship between the employees working in the Primary Milk Co-operative Society and the Federal Milk Union (Apex Society); this is not in dispute.