DD.160, DINDIGUL DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS UNION LTD Vs. PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (L1) DEPARTMENT,

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Dindigul Co-Operative Society Milk Producers Union has requested the government to grant exemption from the coverage of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 [in short 'ESI Act'] from 14/10/2022 to 13/10/2023 retrospectively under Sec. 87 r/w 91-A of the ESI Act. It was rejected by the government vide impugned proceedings dtd. 11/10/2023 that as per Sec. 91-A of the ESI Act, exemption if any can be given prospectively on such date as may be specified therein and therefore, the request of the petitioner's society for grant of exemption from the coverage of ESI Act retrospectively from 14/10/2022 to 13/10/2023 based on their application dtd. 15/9/2023 was rejected by the impugned order in this writ petition.

(2.) The learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner's milk producers union is a quasi-government organisation and its employees paid as that of the government employees and all other benefits are provided to them on par with the government employees. Therefore, the employees working in the petitioner's union have been exempted from the ESI Act. The Government of Tamil Nadu time and again granted exemption for the employees of the union from the coverage of the ESI Act by invoking Sec. 88 r /w Sec. 91-A of the ESI Act. The learned Counsel has also relied on the Government order in GO(D)No.622 Labour and Employment (L1) Department dtd. 28/8/2007, which exempted the union for the period from 1/4/2000 to 31/3/2005 from the coverage of the ESI Act. Similarly the government exempted the petitioner union from the coverage of ESI Act through GO(D)No.261 Labour and Employment (L1) dtd. 18/7/2010 for the period 1/4/2007 to 31/3/2008. The petitioner has also stated that exemptions were provided even for the year 2023 to 2024.

(3.) The learned Counsel for the petitioner has relied on the judgment of this Court in WP.No.17572 of 2010, dtd. 21/6/2011, wherein this Court has allowed one such application that the society is registered under the Tamil Nadu Co-Operative Societies Act and the employees are entitled for medical allowance and other benefits as applicable to the government servants on par with other government servants and since the employes are enjoying more benefits than the benefits available under the ESI Act, the petitioner society is entitled for the exemption. The exemption was provided to similar societies for the period 1/4/2005 to 31/3/2008.