CHANAN SINGH PROPRIETOR CHANAN SINGH AND SONS AMRITSAR Vs. REGIONAL DIRECTOR EMPLOYEES STATE INSURANCE CORPORATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE seven appeals, Nos. 17, 18, 41, 59, 140, 142 and 192, all of the year 1961, have been referred to a Division Bench, six by my learned brother Harbans singh, J. and the other by D. K. Mahajan, J. In two of the appeals the Regional director of the Employees State Insurance Corporation is the appellant and in the rest he is the respondent, the appeals all being against orders of the Court constituted under Section 74 of the Employees' Stale Insurance Act, XXXIV of 1948, on, applications filed Before it either by the employer or by the Corporation under Section 75 of the Act

(2.) IN my opinion the best course will be for the Division Bench to give a decision on certain points of law which have arisen in the appeals, leaving the cases to be decided according to their own facts by a Single Judge in the light of these decisions. I, therefore, do not propose to set out the facts in all the cases except so far as is necessary for the purpose of deciding the points of law.

(3.) THE main question, which arises in five of the appeals, is the question of the period of limitation for the filing of an application on behalf of the Corporation under Section 75 (2) (a) of the Act i. e. for a claim for the recovery of contributions from the principal employer. The Court to decide disputes arising under the Act is constituted under Section 74 and Sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 75 contains lists of disputes and claims respectively which are to be decided by the Court. Section 95 of the Act empowers the Central Government to make rules regarding certain matters, and Section 96 empowers the State Government to make rules on certain other matters. The relevant portions of the section read: