2.3. It is submitted that in pursuance of the show cause notice issued by the second respondent, the Petitioner Company made a representation before the 1st respondent on 05.11.2020, seeking time to reply to the show cause notice, as all the members of the Company were extremely shocked over the unreasonable and unjustified notice issued against them. It is pertinent to note that the petitioner Company, due to the reluctant attitude of the fourth respondent, was forced to terminate their services on 01.01.2020. The petitioner submits that a reply to the show cause notice dated 29.10.2020 was duly sent to the first respondent on 27.11.2020, wherein a proper clarification was given to the queries raised by the defacto complainant and were duly answered. It was made clear before the 1st respondent that the 4th respondent was registered with the Provident Fund Department and has an independent code number and therefore, 4th Respondent has to be treated as an 'independent employer' and the employees of the contractor cannot be treated to be employees of the principal employer. As per the clause in the agreement, the responsibility lies only with the 4th respondent for deployment and the petitioner further states that in spite of the reply dated 27.11.2020, the second respondent issued a notice dated 04.03.2021 bearing Number TN/RO/AMB/69168/CC-11/Area-04/2020 on the basis of the report prepared by the Enforcement Officer, Employment Provident Fund Organisation (the third respondent herein after) with a direction to clear the pending Provident Fund dues, aggrieved by which, the present writ petition has been filed.
