Bishan Narain, J.

1. Robindra Textile Mills of Amritsar have filed this petition under Article 228 of the Constitution through Robindra Nath Mehra, one of the partners, for an order restraining the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Punjab and the Government of India from enforcing the provisions of the Employees Provident Funds Act, 1952, against the petitioning mills, during the period from 1st November, 1952 to 1st February, 1955.

2. The facts which are not in dispute in this case may be briefly stated. The factory at its present site was started in 1946 under the name of Sindh Textile Mills, Amritsar. The factory worked from 1946 till 15th June. 1951 when it was closed. Robindra Nath Mehra and others purchased the factory on 31st January, 1952 and formed a partnership firm to carry on the business of manufacturing textiles under the name and style of Robindra Textile Mills. The factory started functioning from 1st February, 1952 with admittedly more than 50 employees. The Employees Provident Funds Act, 1952, came into force on 4th March, 1952 and the Employees Provident Funds Scheme was framed by the Central Government under Section 5 of the Act. The scheme came into