EOBI Pension Eligibility: When Technical Shortfalls Cannot Defeat Substantive Rights
🧓🏻 EOBI Pension Eligibility: When Technical Shortfalls Cannot Defeat Substantive Rights ⚖️ FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF PAKISTAN EOBI & Others VS Muhammad Rafique etc. The Legal Dispute: The controversy arose when the Employees Old-age Benefits Institution (EOBI) contested decisions of subordinate courts that had granted pensionary benefits to employees who completed more than 14½ years, but less than the literal 15year period of insurable employment. EOBI maintained that Section 22(1)(b) of the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Act requires a strict 15-year threshold for eligibility. According to the Institution, the “rounding off” formula contained in the Schedule of the Act was intended solely for pension calculation and could not be extended to determine eligibility itself. Judicial Determination; A Welfare Centric Interpretation: Rejecting EOBI’s stance, the Court dismissed the petitions and reaffirmed a settled principle of law: social welfare statutes must be interpreted pur...