Kochi: The Kerala High Court has given permission to distribute pensions of Rs 1 lakh for employees who retired before December 31, 2022, in two instalments. The court has also directed the establishment of a special corpus fund to ensure the regular distribution of pensions by July 4.

The interim order was passed by a divisional bench comprising Justice SV Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji in response to an appeal filed by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) against a single bench order.

KSRTC has informed the court that the pension amount of Rs. 50,000 each can be dispensed on June 1 and July 1 without fail.

The pending pension of Rs. 1 lakh has to be distributed among 978 pensioners who retired between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. Earlier, a single bench of the high court had ordered the distribution of the pending pensions on or before March 31 and the restoration of the corpus fund in April.