IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.14895 of 1989 (O&M) Date of decision:23.03.2011 Amrit Roller Flour Mills (P) Limited ....Petitioner versus Employees' State Insurance Corporation and another ....Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: None. ---- 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? No. 2. To be referred to the reporters or not ? Yes. 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest ? Yes. ---- K.Kannan, J. (Oral) 1. The prayer in the writ petition is to quash the proceedings issued by the Regional Director, Employees' State Insurance Corporation for recovery of contribution under Section 45-B of the ESI Act. The direction was for recovery of the failed contribution by the principal employer of the factory establishment M/s Amrit Roller Flour Mills (P) Limited pursuant to a demand. It appears that the amount had also been paid by the petitioner. The writ petition is for a direction that this payment was made under a mistaken belief and mistaken identity for the for the payment due by another firm M/s Amrit Ice & Cold Storage. The fact that the amount could not have been collected from M/s Amrit Roller Flour Mills (P) Limited itself was not disputed in the written Civil Writ Petition No.14895 of 1989 (O&M) - 2 - statement. It bears out that the partner in M/s Amrit Roller Flour Mills (P) Limited was also the partner in M/s Amrit Ice & Cold Storage and, therefore, the payment made was not under a mistake. 2. There is no representation on the side of the petitioner. I would only hold that the amount involved is mere Rs.5,579/- and in the ultimate bargain if the liability was not of M/s Amrit Roller Flour Mills (P) Limited and that it was only of M/s Amrit Ice & Cold Storage, it could have been recovered from any of the partners, the partners being at all times personally liable for the liability arisen under the partnership. Even otherwise there is an effective remedy under the ESI Act under Section 75 which allows for an adjudication relating to any contribution payable was recoverable under the Act to be decided by the ESI Court. The challenge through a writ petition was, therefore, not justified at all. The writ petition is, therefore, dismissed. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 23.03.2011 sanjeev