Company Appeal(at)(Ins) 410/CN/2022 of Employees State Insurance Corporation v. Sri Lakshmi Srinivasa Jute Mills Pvt. Ltd.
Case brief
What is this about?
The Tribunal held that statutory ESI contributions retained by a corporate debtor are amounts held in trust for employee beneficiaries and are excluded from the liquidation estate under Section 36(4)(a)(i) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Filing the claim as an operational creditor in Form B did not change that substantive character. The appeal was allowed to the extent that the approved resolution plan treated the ESI claim as ordinary government or operational dues and allowed payment of only 1% of the admitted claim.
What did the court decide?
The impugned order was set aside to the extent it approved treatment of the ESI contributions as ordinary government or operational creditor dues and allowed payment of only 1% thereof. The Resolution Professional and successful resolution applicant are to give effect to the exclusion of qualifying contributions under Section 40(4) of the ESI Act read with Section 36(4)(a)(i) of the IBC; the exact