General Provident Fund Nomination Becomes Invalid After Marriage: Supreme Court

The article reports a Supreme Court ruling which held that a nomination made under the General Provident Fund (GPF) scheme in favour of parents becomes invalid once the employee marries, where service rules require nomination in favour of spouse after marriage. The Court reasoned that the social welfare objective underlying provident-fund legislation gives primacy to the marital family created post-marriage, and allowing pre-marriage parent-nominations to linger would undermine that objective. The judgment clarifies that nomination is a mechanism for determining beneficiaries on death, not creation of ownership rights, and thus must reflect the changed family status. The ruling aims to avoid succession disputes, ensure fair distribution of benefits among spouse/children, and uphold the legislative intent of social-security statutes.