Comments
All revenue villages in the Karaikkal taluk in the Union Territory of Pondicherry were covered by the provisions of Employees State Insurance Act, 1948. Thus, the T.R. Pattinam Commune also was included in the coverage of the Act, the Madras High Court has held.
Kannappan Iron & Steel Co. Pvt Ltd, running a factory at TR Pattinam in the Karaikkal region, had challenged notices dated April 2, 2004 from the ESI Corporation directing them to recover dues from the company from September, 2000 to March 2003 and for subsequent period from April, 2003 to September 2003. They contended that the Government of India had not issued any notification in consultation with the local Government subsequent to the notification dated May 14, 1976 in respect of the implementation of the ESI scheme as required. In the absence of any follow-up GO, the demand claimed was illegal, the company submitted.
Demand notice
In answer to the defence taken, in the counter-affidavit, it was stated by the Regional Director, Regional Office (ESIC), Pondicherry, that according to the notification, the scheme had been implemented in the entire Karaikkal taluk with effect from May 30, 1976. This included TR Pattinam.
The company filed a writ petition challenging the demand notices issued by ESIC. Mr Justice K. Chandru, hearing the petition, said that under Sec 2-A of the ESI Act, every factory or establishment to which this Act applied shall be registered within the time and manner specified in the regulation. In terms of Sec 1(3), the Act came into force from May 30, 1976 with the Government of India issuing the notification on May 14, 1976. Thus, it was clear that entire area comprising all revenue villages in Karaikkal taluk was covered by the provisions of Act. The Judge ruled that the scheme of the Act did not contemplate the requirement of notifying each revenue village, and after the notification in consolidation with the said village commune, further orders were not required. The attempt by the petitioner to seek something which was not bound in terms of the provisions of the Act was intended to delay the implementation of the scheme, with such unfounded reasons, which were not available under the Act.
The writ petitions were clear abuse of process of this Court, the Judge held. Hence both the petitions were dismissed with a cost of Rs 5,000.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.