JUDGMENT :

M.R. Shah, J.

1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order dated 17.02.2021, passed by the High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad in Civil Misc. Appeal No. 125/2011, by which, the High Court has allowed the said appeal and has set aside the order dated 13.12.2010 passed by the Employees Insurance Court (hereinafter referred to as the EI Court) dismissing EIC No. 14/2003 in which the respondent herein challenged the demand notice dated 31.08.1994 issued by the ESI Corporation, the ESI Corporation has preferred the present appeal.

2. The facts leading to the present appeal in nutshell are as under: -

2.1 That the respondent herein was running a Cinema Theatre since 1981. It paid ESI contributions up to September, 1989. However, thereafter, as its employees were less than 20 in number, it did not pay the contributions. Therefore, the appellant – corporation issued demand notices. The respondent herein challenged the demand notices before the EI Court by way of EIC No. 14/2003 containing, inter alia, that prior to the insertion of Sub-section (6) of Section 1 of the ESI Act, 1948 w.e.f. 20.10.1989, it employed less than 20 persons and th