Kerala High Court: The present intra-Court appeal was filed challenging the Single Judge’s order wherein the appellants were directed to credit the interest that had accrued on the Public Provident Fund Account (‘PPF Account’) of two minor children, for the period till they attained majority, to the respondents’ accounts. The Division Bench of Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari* and Syam Kumar V.M., JJ., while quashing the order of the Single Judge, observed that the post office could appropriate the interest that had accrued on the PPF contribution made by the mother in their children’s account in excess of the limits as prescribed under the Public Provident Fund Scheme, 1968 (‘1968 Scheme’).
Background:
Respondent 3 , the mother of Respondents 1 and 2, had opened a PPF Account with Appellant 2 (‘Post Office’) and separate accounts were also opened for Respondents 1 and 2, being minors. Respondents 1 and 2 attained majority on 24-12-2005 and 26-09-2007, respectively. The amounts in the PPF accounts of the minors were not withdrawn even after they became major, and further amount was continuously deposited. On 29-06-2017, the Post Officer informed the mother that the amounts deposited in the accounts, taken together, would exceed the limit prescribed under the 1968 Scheme, since Respondents 1 and 2 were minor, and therefore, on this ground, an amount of Rs 6,87,021 towards accrued interest credit was appropriated by the Post Office.
Aggrieved by the appropriation, the respondents filed the writ petition praying for direction to credit Rs 6,87,021 to their accounts with interest from the date of debit till the date of credit. The Single Judge, vide order dated 05-09-2024, directed the post office to credit the amount to the respondents’ accounts with interest, as applicable under the Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 (‘PPF Act’).
The post office’s counsel contended that the Single Judge had overlooked the fact that the amount appropriated was for the period up to 2005 and 2007, when Respondents 1 and 2 had attained the age of majority, respectively. Thereafter, the interest on deposits was credited to their respective accounts and was not forfeited. It was submitted that allowing the petition would set a dangerous precedent, encouraging other depositors to open multiple accounts and bypass statutory limits and later claim interest, despite the breach, leading to systematic abuse of the 1968 Scheme, endangering financial discipline, as the amount paid towards interest was, after all, public money and such unjust enrichment could not be permitted.
It was also argued that it was the respondents’ duty to inform the Postal Department that the minors had attained the age of majority. The prolonged operation of the accounts in violation of the statutory ceiling did not create any vested right or equity in favour of the respondents as it was a settled principle that there was no estoppel against a Statute.
However, the respondents’ counsel submitted that the deposits were made by the respondents with specific reference to the provisions of the 1968 Scheme, and he referred to Rule 2(a) of the 1968 Scheme to point out that the PPF Account was covered by the said Scheme. It was also contended that the respondents had not withdrawn the deposits or closed the accounts till 2017, when the appellants made the appropriation. It was the appellants’ mistake not to correct the accounts in time, and as such, there was a huge delay of about ten years. Therefore, the appellants could not have appropriated the account at such a later stage.
Analysis and Decision:
The Court noted that Rule 3 of the 1968 Scheme provided a limit on deposit of Rs 1 lakh in a year by an individual in her own account and accounts opened by her on behalf of minors of whom she was the guardian. The limit was enhanced from time to time and thus, the excess deposits made into these minor accounts, during the period till they attained majority, would be taken as the deposits made by the mother, which violated the limit prescribed under Rule 3 of the Scheme 1968.
The Court further noted that the total interest accrued in the minor accounts till the date of their attaining majority, was the only amount that was forfeited. Thereafter, the accounts continued to be operated, and contributions were made for which the interest had already been paid regularly to the respondents. The period for which interest was forfeited, in respect of Respondent 1, was from 20-03-2002 to 16-03-2005, whereas in respect of Respondent 2, it was from 20-03-2002 to 24-03-2007.
The Court observed that as per the 1968 Scheme, if the mother operated the account of minor children, the amount deposited in all three accounts taken together would be clubbed for the limit prescribed under the Scheme from time to time. The limits were crossed almost every year, but the appellants could not notice the discrepancy until it was pointed out in the internal audit in 2017. The Court opined that such payment of excess interest would amount to unjust enrichment, and the same would be a burden on the public exchequer.
The Court observed that the Single Judge did not consider that the appellants had appropriated the interest amount only for the period till Respondents 1 and 2 attained majority and therefore, the Court held that the amount was rightly appropriated from the accounts concerned.
Consequently, while allowing the writ appeal, the Court set aside the order of the Single Judge and directed that the appellants were free to recover the excess interest of Rs 6,87,021 from the respondents if not already recovered or appropriated.
[Union of India v. Fareeda Sukha Rafiq, 2025 SCC OnLine Ker 6323, decided on 14-08-2025]
*Judgment authored by: Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Appellants: Jaishankar V. Nair, Senior Panel Counsel, Christy Theresa Suresh, Advocate.
For the Respondents: Siddarth, Latha Anand, M.N. Radhakrishna Menon, S. Vishnu (Arikkattil), Advocates.