R N SHAH Vs. REGIONAL PROVIDENT FUND COMMISSIONER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Petitioners are two of the Members of the Managing Committee appointed by National spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India and are entrusted with running and conducting the boarding High School known as New Era High School at Panchgani in Satara District of this state. The School is a Residential School and the pupils are admitted and fees charged include boarding expenses also. The School runs a kitchen where meals are prepared both for pupils and masters. No one who is not connected with the school is permitted to partake of the food in the mess. The mess run by the school was part and is an integral part of the school. According to the petitioners, the school has employed about 14 persons in the mess for preparation of food.

(2.) THE Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 was enacted by the central Government and came into force from March 4, 1952. Section 1 (3) inter alia provides that it applied (a) to every establishment which is a factory engaged in any industry specified in schedule I and in which twenty or more persons are employed, and (b) to any other establishment employing twenty or-more persons or class of such establishments which the central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf. In pursuance of powers conferred under Section 1 (3) (b) of the Act, the Central Government published a Notification dated March 15, 1973 in Government Gazette and specified that every mess, not being a military mess, employing 20 or more persons, as the Class of establishments to which the said Act shall apply with effect from 31st March 1973. The explanation provides that mess means a place where food is served on payment made or promised to be made.

(3.) ON February 29, 1980, the Office of the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner served notice upon the School informing that the mess run by the School is an establishment to which the Act shall apply with effect from 31. 1. 1977 and, therefore, the school should implement the provisions of the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme with effect from 1. 2. 1977, Family Pension scheme with effect from January 1, 1980 and Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme with effect from february 2, 1977. A Notice dated January 7, 1981 was served on the school and the School was informed that the School was guilty of non-submission of returns as required by the Act and threatened that prosecution would be launched for failure to do so. The School authorities then informed the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner that the School has already implemented provident Fund Scheme for benefit of the employees. The Commissioner again insisted that the school should implement the Scheme prescribed under the Act in spite of the protest by the school that the mess run by the School is not an establishment and cannot be covered under the act. The refusal of the Commissioner to accede to claim made by the School has given rise to the filing of this Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.