ORDER :

Mummineni Sudheer Kumar, J.

This writ petition has been filed by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation aggrieved by an order dated 19.08.2014, passed by the Employees' Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi, in A.T.A.No. 695(13)2014, whereby the learned Appellate Tribunal allowed the appeal filed by the respondent against the order dated 23.05.2014, passed under Section 14B of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 , (in short, “the Act, 1952”) levying damages of Rs.37,73,565/-.

2. The perusal of the impugned order dated 19.08.2014 would disclose that the learned Appellate Tribunal interfered with the order passed by the Primary Authority under Section 14B of the Act, 1952, on the ground that there is no mens rea on the part of the respondent herein in non-remittance of the provident fund contributions in time.

3. The existence of mens rea is not a condition precedent for imposing damages under Section 14B of the Act, 1952 and the same is now well settled legal position in the light of the law laid down by the Honourable Apex Court in the case of Horticulture Experiment Station vs. Provident Fund Organisation , reported in (2022) 4 SCC 5