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M. S. RAMESH, C. KUMARAPPAN
MMTC Ltd. , Rep. by Deputy General Manager – Appellant
Versus
Employees State Insurance Corporation, Rep. by its Director – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
(M.S. Ramesh, J.) :
(Prayer: Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent Act, to set aside the order passed by this Court in W.P.No.5612 of 2011, dated 19.01.2024.)
Heard Mr.Santhana Raman, learned counsel for the appellant and Ms.S.Jayakumari, learned Standing Counsel, for the respondents.
2. The Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Vijayawada had passed an order under Section 85-B of the Employees' State Insurance Act (hereinafter referred to as 'ESI Act'), directing M/s.MICA Trading Corporation India Ltd., (MITCO), which was subsequently amalgamated with M/s.MMTC Ltd., a factory under the ESI Act, claiming damages for delayed payment of contributions of Rs.1,16,254/- for the period from October 1989 to April 1995 and Rs.5,445/- for the period from May 1995 to December 1996. The said order came to be challenged before a learned Single Judge of this Court in W.P.No.5612 of 2011, predominantly on the ground that the appellant-Company would be eligible for waiver under Regulation 31-C(a) of the ESI (General) Regulations, since the earlier sick company was amalgamated with the appellant-Company. The learned Single Judge, through the order dated 19.01.2024
Damages under the E.S.I. Act are discretionary, not mandatory, and must consider genuine hardships, reaffirming that penalties should not automatically apply.
The main legal point established in the judgment is the importance of exhausting the alternative statutory remedies provided under the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 before seeking judicial inte....
The High Court maintains discretion to entertain writ petitions despite the existence of alternative remedies, underscoring that maintainability and entertainability are distinct concepts.
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