Judgment

S.B. Majmudar, J.-Both these appeals for special leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution of India have brought in challenge two orders of the Division Bench of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh dismissing two Letters Patent Appeals arising out of the decision of the learned Single Judge of the High Court who has considered identical questions of law. Consequently, both these appeals were heard together. Learned counsel for the respective parties were heard in support of their cases and thereafter both these appeals are being disposed of by this common judgment.

2. The common question which falls for consideration of this Court in these appeals is as to whether the appellants which are carrying on the business of printing and publishing newspapers in the State of Punjab at Jallandhar are liable to remit contributions under Section 6 of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (for short the ‘Act’) to the authorities functioning under the Act along with the matching contributions from their respective em­ployees, so far as the amounts paid by the appellants to their employ­ees under identical schemes of Production Bonus