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Judgment
Sudhir Narain, J.—The provisions of Employees State Insurance Act were extended to the employees of the petitioner with effect from January 1, 1997. In between many events occurred which are not relevant for the disposal of this appeal, For quite some time deduction of the contribution of employers as well as employees were suspended. The Insurance Corporation made a demand. The petitioner directly approached this Court. The learned single Judge by the impugned order, making certain observations directed the petitioner to approach the Insurance Court. While passing this direction the Court ordered the petitioner to deposit Rs. 1,15,18,951/- on or before June 30, 1999 as a condition precedent for filing of the appeal.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the respondents. The main grievance canvassed before us is that when the petitioner is directed to avail of the statutory remedy, the learned single Judge ought not to have made any observation touching the merit of the matter. We see some force in the contention. Further submission is that the employer ought not to have been directed to deposit the amount as a condition precedent. We do not see any merit in this contention. However, having regard to the nature of controversy and arguments as advanced, we pass the following orders:
(i) The petitioner is at liberty to approach the Insurance Court as envisaged in Section 75-B of the Act.
(ii) The Insurance Court shall adjudicate upon the dispute independently without having regard to the observations made by the learned single Judge.
(iii) The petitioner shall deposit the amount by August 31, 1999 instead of June 30, 1999 as was ordered by the learned single Judge. The respondent Insurance Corporation is at liberty to press their claim in regard to the dues before the Insurance Court, according to their calculation. Till that time, the Insurance Corporation shall not enforce the recovery of the amount due. The deposit with the Insurance Court of the amount shall be subject to the result of the proceedings.
With this direction the appeal is disposed of.