O R D E R:

Petitioners contend that the 1st petitioner is a company deemed to be registered under the Companies Act and is engaged in the business of manufacturing various engineering and allied products in its units situated all over India. The 1st petitioner is a 45-year-old company and has been running its own Provident Fund Trust through its Trustees under the name and style of NSL PF Trust No.6330, which is the 2nd petitioner herein, duly approved by the EPF authorities. Since its inception, the 2nd petitioner - Trust has maintained its activities with due diligence, without any issues whatsoever, and has served all its members to their satisfaction without any complaint of any nature.

1.1. Petitioners submit that in accordance with the provisions of the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, the Trustees of the 2nd petitioner Trust passed Resolution dated 10.02.2023 deciding to surrender the exemption granted to the Trust and hand over the same to the Provident Fund authorities, namely the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Patancheru. It is stated, pursuant thereto, vide letter dated 16.02.2023, all details were transferred to the said Authority and it was informed that surrender would take effect from 01.03.2023. From 01.03.2023 onwards, the 1st petitioner started remitting Provident Fund subscriptions of all NSL Trust members directly to the Provident Fund authorities continuously and without any default.

1.2. After deciding to surrender the Trust, the 2nd petitioner approached the authorities concerned seeking guidance regarding the process for surrendering the Trust's past accumulations of its members and also sought clarification regarding the procedure for surrendering and liquidating invested funds of NSL PF Trust in various government bonds and mutual funds. It is stated, the 1st respondent provided the necessary information vide letter dated 09.03.2023 detailing the required documentation and procedures. Accordingly, the 2nd petitioner submitted the relevant Resolution of the Trustees and other required documents vide letter dated 10.03.2023. The 1st respondent issued another letter dated 29.03.2023 furnishing further details regarding the surrender of the Trust and its properties.

1.3. According to petitioners, after gathering the information and understanding the procedures and formalities, it took approximately two to three months to complete the process, as the Provident Fund Department authorities advised the 2nd petitioner to take back all invested amounts from various government and other banks and securities and thereafter deposit the consolidated amount into the account of the Provident Fund authorities. Petitioners state that meanwhile, the PF authorities issued another letter dated 09.05.2023 requiring the 2nd petitioner to provide the statement of past accumulations within 30 days and deposit 100% of the past accumulations within 15 days thereafter. They submitted reply dated 30.05.2023 enclosing all the statements of past accumulations along with the minutes of the Trustees' meeting dated 27.05.2023.

1.4. It is contended, the above processes and statutory formalities consumed about three and a half months, and ultimately, the 2nd petitioner Trust surrendered the past accumulated funds amounting to Rs.5,09,32,844/- towards PF contributions together with interest from April 2023 to July 2023 by way of Demand Draft dated 21.07.2023. Petitioners state that the said Demand Draft along with all details and balance sheet was submitted to the PF authorities, Patancheru on 04.08.2023 and that they sought cancellation of the exemption granted to the Trust in view of compliance with all procedures.

1.5. Petitioners contend that out of the amounts deposited in various banks, Rs.70,00,000/- had been invested in YES Bank Bonds in 2016 with the expectation of higher returns. Due to financial and technical issues, the Reserve Bank of India placed YES Bank Ltd. un