Dismissed

M/s.Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Hamali Labour Contract Co-Operative Socieety Limited v. The Government of India

Telangana HC18 Sept 2024WP/25573/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Writ petition challenging illegal recovery of ESI contributions filed by a cooperative society alleged to be non-existent and not covered under the Act. The Court found an efficacious remedy existed and dismissed the writ petition.

What did the court decide?

Writ petition dismissed without costs. Liberty granted to approach appropriate forum under Section 75(1)(g).

M/s.Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Hamali Labour Contract… — Cooperative Societies | Telangana HC (2024)

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[^32s6 ]

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IN THE HIGH COURT^{FORTHE STATE OF TELANGANAAT HYDERABAD}

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(SPecial Original Jurisdiction)

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WEDNESDAY, THE EIGHTEENTH^{DAY OF SEPTENIBER} TWO THOUSAND AND^{TWENTY FOUR}

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE^{C.V, BHASKARREDDY}

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WRIT PETITION NO: 25573 Oj²⁰²⁴

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Between:

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M/s SRl LAXIVI NARASIMHA^{SWAMY HAMALI} -LABOUR^{CONTRACT CO-} oF-eEArrVe SoclErry^{irutiro, cHtTyAL, c/o.CentratWareHousins} 6or*poiuiion^{OoOown.Cn,tyaf , Vittage and tvlandal. Nalgonda District, R/By Kanakala} rrr"rlir-nr. S/o. Late.Raniulu.^{Ag;dabout 59 years-,occu-Hamali,R/oChilyal} Village and^{ltr'landal,NalgondaDistrict.}

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,..PETITIONER

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AND

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The Government of^{lndia, Rep. by its Director General Employees.State} Insurance Corporation,^{tvlinistryof Labour andE-mpl9ym911^Panchoeep} bnauan, -ComldOe lndrajeet Gupia (ClG) Marg, New-Delhi-110002

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Employees^{State lnsuranceCorporatron,.Ministry of Labourand Employment'} Government of tnoia. Ee!.^{by'it's Reg'ionalDirector'ESI-R^e^gio^nalBranch} Otri"u-frf . s S-Zg, Hill^{Fort iload, Adarsh Nagar, Hyderabad-500063}

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The Recovery^{Officer,ReS-19!ql Office, Tetangana,5-9-23'Hill Fort Road'} Adarsh Nagai,HYderabad-500063.

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The Branch Manager,^{State Bank of lndia.,} -Chityal^{Branch, H No 9-34' Nfi-65'} - op"r, ffift ; cd;]tdx,ChltviiVittage and Man6al, Nalsonda District-so8 1 1 4

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...RESPONDENTS

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Petition under^{Article 226 of the constitution of lndia praying that in the} circumstancesstatedintheaffidavitfiledtherewith'theHighCourtmaybe pleasedtoissueanappropriateWrit,OrderorDrrection,morepartlcularlyonein the nature of writ^{of [/andamus,Directingthe Respondentsto closethe code} VideNo'52o0044STTo0OOgggissuedbytheRespondentNo.2infavourofthe Petitioner,societyasthereisnoexistenceofthePetitioner.ssocietyand consequentlytheorderin52O]44STT-0999'Dated.22'02.2024passedbythe RespondentNo'3hereinforrecoveryoftheESlContributionamountof Rs.68,44'42gt-alongWithsubsequentduesagainstthePetitioner.ssocletyaSitis

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,,*

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illegal and direct the Respondent No.3 to stay all further proceedings against the Petitioner society in respect of the illegal dues amount towards ESI contribution.

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lA NO: 1 OF 2024

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Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to suspend the illegal order Passed by the Respondent No.3 in 5Tel44g77-0999, Daled .22 .02 .2024, pending disposal of the present writ petition and consequenfly to close the code vide No.52 000448770000999 with the Respondent No.2.

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Counsel for the Petitioner : SRI KANDAGATLA SRTNTVASULU

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Counsel for the Respondent No.1 : SRI cADl PRAVEEN KUMAR. OY.SO.GEN Counsel for the Respondent No.2&3 : SRI G.VENKATESHWARLU,SC FOR ESIC -- Counsel for the Respondent No.4 :

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The Court made the following: ORDER

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_.--:;-

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HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.BHASKAR REDDY

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WRIT PETITION No.25573 of 2024

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ORDER:

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This writ petition is filed praylng this Court to direct No. the respondents to close the code uide 52000448770000999 issued by respondent No.2 in favour of the petitioner's society as the^petitioner's society is^not in existence and consequently declare the order No.52Q/ 44877-0999, d,ated 22.02.2024 passed by respondent^No.3 for recovery of the E.S.l. contribution^{amount of} Rs.68,44,429 l- dong with subsequent dues against^the petitioner's society as illegal and arbitrary.

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It is stated that the^petitioner is a^{cooperativesociety} registered under the^provisions of^{the CooperativeSocieties} Act, 1995. It is stated that the members of the^petitioner society are working in loading and unloading of^{goods in} the vehicles as a Hamali workers for eking^{out their} livelihood. The case of the^petitioner is that^{though the} petitioner society is not covered under Section 2^{(12) of the} Employees State Insurance Act,^{1948 (for short "the Act"),}

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CVBR, J 'Wp 25573 2024

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but believing that the society would fall within the provisions of the Act, the petitioner society deposited monthly contribution to respondent No.2 regularly from 01.11.2014 to 31.01.2015. It is the further case of the petitioner that the petitioner society is not in existence since long time as the members of the society are not getting any regular employment. The grievance of the petitioner is that without taking into consideration of the fact that the petitioner society is not in existence since long tirne, uide impugned order the respondents have issued the proceedings under Section 45-G of the Act fixing the liability of the petitioner to the tune of Rs.68,41 ,429 I - towa::ds the contributions.

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Considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and with their consent tl-ris writ petition is being disposed of at the admission stage.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner society is not covered under the provisions of the Act and it is not in existence since long time, therefore, the action of respondent No.3 in issuing the impugned

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CVBR, J Wp 25573 2024

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order for recovery of Rs.68,44,429 l- along with^subsequent dues is illegal and prayed to set aside the^same.

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Sri Pasham Srinivasulu, learned Standing^Counsel appearing for the respondents has submitted^{that the} petitioner society is covered under the provisions of the Act and the petitioner society regularly remitted^the contributions from Ol.Ll.2Ol4 to 31.01'2015^and thereafter they failed to remit the^{E.P.F. contributions,} therefore, the respondents^have initiated^{the proceedings} and after following the^{procedure prescribed under the Act} the respondents have determined^{that the petitioneris} liable to pay an amount of Rs.68,44,429/-^{towards ESI} contributions under the^{provisions of the Act and issued} the impugned order. Learned Standing^{Counsel further} sr.rbmits that the petitioner is having an^alternate efficacious remedy if it is aggrieved with the^impugned orders passed by respondent^No.3.

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In the writ petition, the^{petitionerhas raised various} disputed questions relating to^{non-existence of the society} and also the petitioner society^{is not covered under the}

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CVBR, J wp_25573 2024

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provisions of the Act. The said issues cal be decided^only after verification of the records and^{basing on the reports} submitted by the competent authorities^underthe provisions of the Act. Since the petitioner is having an alternate efficacious remedy to^question the^impugned order, the present writ petition filed is^{misconceived.} However, liberty is given to the petitioner to agitate^its grievances before the appropriate forum under Section⁷⁵ (1) (g) of the Act.

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Accordingly, this Writ Petition is disposed of.^There shall be no order as to costs.

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As a sequel, the miscellaneous^{petitionspending,} if

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any, shaJl stan d closed.

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SD/. K. AMMAJI ASSISTANT.REGISTRAR--,TRUE COPY' )

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SECTION OFFICER

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To,

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1 The Director General, Employyes State lnsurance Corporation, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Panchdeep Bhavan, Government of lndia, Comrade lndrajeet Gupta (ClG) Marg, New-Delhi-1^'10002

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2 The Regional Director, ESI Regional Branch Office-lll,Employees State lnsurance Corporation, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of lndia, 5-9-23, Hill Fort Road, Adarsh Nagar, Hyderabad-500063

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3 The Recovery Officer, Regional Office, Telangana, 5-9-23, Hill Fort Road, Adarsh Nagar, Hyderabad-500063.

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4 The Branch Manager, State Bank of lndia, Chityal Branch, H.No.9-34, NH-65, Opp- Srujana Complex,Chityal Village and Mandal, Nalgonda District-So8114 One CC to SRI KANDAGATLA SRINIVASULU, Advocate. [OPUC]

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6 One CC to SRI GADI PRAVEEN KUMAR, (Deputy Solicitor General of tndia), High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. [OPUC]

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7 One CC to SRI G.VENKATESHWARLU, SC for Emptoyyes State lnsurance Corporation. IOPUC]

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8 Two CD Copies.

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BSK LS /

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-+!.--_

HIGH COURT

DATED:1810912024

ORDER

1 t{ e S TA
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WP.No.25573 ot 2024

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DISPOSING OF THE WRIT PETITION WITHOUT COSTS

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/ til,ft/./ .. o14

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M/s.Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Hamali Labour Contract Co-Operative Socieety Limited v. The Government of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

M/s.Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Hamali Labour Contract Co-Operative Socieety Limited v. The Government of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

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