TMI Blog2009 (10) TMI 825X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ject of introducing the deeming provision and non obstante clause in Section 11(2). Therefore, it is not possible to agree with the learned senior counsel for the appellant bank that the amount of interest payable under Section 7Q and damages leviable under Section 14B do not form part of the amount due from an employer for the purpose of Section 11(2) of the Act. Appeal dismissed. - C.A. 6893 OF 2009 - - - Dated:- 8-10-2009 - B.N. AGRAWAL, G.S. SINGHVI AND AFTAB ALAM, JJ. JUDGMENT 1. Leave granted. 2. Whether the sugar bags pledged by Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. and Gangapur Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. in favour of the appellant-bank as security for repayment of the loan together with interest could be attached and sold for realization of the dues of provident funds etc. payable by the employer i.e., the management of the Sugar Mills under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (for short the Act ) is the question which arises for determination in these appeals filed against order dated 29.6.2007 passed by the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in Civil Application Nos.1680 and 1681 of 2007 in Writ Petition No.6824/2005 a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ities are relieved. 8. Over and above the aforesaid dues, if any other amount is due to the said Bank by us exclusively or in partnership with anybody else, we agree that the stocks/goods/commodities kept in the custody of the said Bank will also be treated as security for such amount due by us. 10. We shall not in any way hold the said Bank responsible for the weight, quality, conditions or safety of the stocks/goods/commodities given into its custody. We shall hold ourselves responsible for any shortage, damage or shrinkage that may arise by any cause whatsoever. 13. If and when there is insecurity due to local riots or civil commotion, etc. we undertake to insure the stocks/goods/commodities against any damage or loss by such riots or civil commotion. If we fail to do so, the said Bank shall so insure the stocks/goods/commodities for and on our behalf and shall be entitled to debit the cost thereof to our account. 15. Though by this Agreement, the date of repayment of the loan has been fixed as aforesaid, the said Bank shall treat the loan as demand we undertake to repay the same as soon as the said Bank shall make a demand or the said Bank shall be at full liberty to re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e sugar bags which were lying under its lock and key, could not have been attached for realization of the dues of provident fund etc. During the pendency of the writ petition, the Assistant Commissioner filed Civil Application No.2739/2006 for sale of the sugar bags. At the hearing of that application, learned counsel appearing for the appellant-bank referred to the orders passed in Writ Petition No.3413/2005 and connected cases for conducting joint auction of the attached goods i.e., sugar bags. After taking note of his submission, the Division Bench of the High Court passed order dated 1.12.2006, the relevant portions of which are as under:- We accordingly allow this application and direct that the sugar bags attached by the petitioner as well as the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner shall be jointly auctioned and the sale proceeds shall be deposited with the Registrar of this Court. The successful bidder will draw a Demand Draft or a Banker s Cheque in the name of the Registrar General of this Court. It is further ordered that the auction sale undertaken jointly, shall be completed within a period of three months by floating public tenders calling for bids and by accept ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Factory is dismissed by the Appellate authority, then the amount of Rs.3,56,79,065/- will have to be transferred to the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner and the Registrar General is hereby directed, accordingly, to transfer it. (f) In case the appeal is allowed and thereby the sugar factory becomes entitled to the amount of Rs.3,56,79,065/-, then the MSC Bank is at liberty to appropriate the said amount towards the dues of the Sugar Factory. (g) In view of the above directions and the disbursement of the amount, the order passed by the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner attaching the assets, Bank Accounts and sugar bags etc. of the Sugar Factory is hereby quashed and set aside and the Sugar Factory is at liberty to deal with the said assets in accordance with their own Resolution and decisions keeping in mind the directions. 11. We may now notice some facts from the record of the other appeal. 12. The appellant advanced Rs.2000 lacs to Gangapur Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. during crushing season 2002- 03. For securing the payment of the loan, the management of the Sugar Mill executed three deeds on 2.1.2003, 6.2.2003 and 4.4.2003 and pledged the sugar bags lying ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ts. 14. Shri Ashok H. Desai, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant assailed the impugned orders and argued that the sugar bags lying in the godowns of the Sugar Mills could not have been attached and sold at the instance of the Assistant Commissioner for realization of the dues of provident fund etc. because the same had already been pledged with the appellant-bank. Learned senior counsel relied upon the judgments of this Court in Karnataka Pawnbrokers Association v. State of Karanataka (1998) 7 SCC 707, Central Bank of India v. Siriguppa Sugars Chemicals Ltd. (2007) 8 SCC 353, and argued that even though under Section 11(2) of the Act, the amount due from an employer is treated as first charge on the assets of the establishment, the same cannot have priority or precedence over the dues of the appellant-bank, the payment of which is secured by the deeds of pledge executed by the management of the Sugar Mills. Shri Desai referred to various clauses of the deeds of pledge and submitted that for all practical purposes, the appellant-bank had become owner of the sugar bags and the Recovery Officer did not have the jurisdiction, power or authority to attach the same. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fits because employers of those establishments did not introduce voluntary schemes of provident funds. The framers of the Constitution were very much alive to the plight of the working class and particularly the unorganized labour employed in factories and other establishments. They were also conscious of the fact that the goals of justice social, economic and political and equality of status and of opportunity proposed to be incorporated in the preamble to the Constitution will remain illusory for weaker sections of society unless the State takes affirmative legislative and administrative measures for ameliorating the conditions of those sections including the workers employed in factories etc. Therefore, specific provisions were incorporated in Part IV of the Constitution with the title Directive Principles of State Policy casting an obligation upon the State to apply these principles in making laws. Article 38 which has been renumbered as clause (1) thereof by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 declares that the State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting, as effectively as it may, a social order in which justice, socia ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fication in the Official Gazette, to exercise the powers of a Recovery Officer under the Act. Section 5(1) lays down that the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, frame a Scheme to be called the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme for the establishment of provident funds under this Act for employees or for any class of employees and specify the establishments or class of establishments to which the said Scheme shall apply. This section further lays down that soon after framing of the Scheme, a Fund shall be established in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Scheme. Section 6 speaks of the contribution required to be made by the employer and employees to the Fund. Section 6A(1) postulates framing of Employees' Pension Scheme for the purpose of providing superannuation pension, retiring pension or permanent total disablement pension to the employees of any establishment or class of establishments to which this Act applies and widow or widower's pension, children pension or orphan pension payable to the beneficiaries of such employees. Section 6A(2) lays down that notwithstanding anything contained in Section 6, there shall be established, as so ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on 15 or under sub-section (5) of section 17 or any charges payable by him under any other provision of this Act or of any provision of the Scheme or the Insurance Scheme; or (b) from the employer in relation to an exempted establishment in respect of any damages recoverable under section 14B or any charges payable by him to the appropriate Government under any provision of this Act or under any of the conditions specified under section 17 or in respect of the contribution payable by him towards the Pension Scheme under the said section 17. may, if the amount is in arrear, be recovered in the manner specified in sections 8B to 8G. 8B. Issue of certificate to the Recovery Officer. (1) Where any amount is in arrear under section 8, the authorised officer may issue, to the Recovery Officer, a certificate under his signature specifying the amount of arrears and the Recovery Officer, on receipt of such certificate, shall proceed to recover the amount specified therein from the establishment or, as the case may be, the employer by one or more of the modes mentioned below: (a) attachment and sale of the movable or immovable property of the establishment or, as the case may be, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in force from time to time, shall apply with necessary modifications as if the said provisions and the rules referred to the arrears of the amount mentioned in section 8 of this Act instead of to the Income-tax; Provided that any reference in the said provisions and the rules to the assessee shall be construed as a reference to an employer as defined in this Act. 11.Priority of payment of contributions over other debts. (l) Where any employer is adjudicated insolvent or, being a company, an order for winding up is made, the amount due (a) from the employer in relation to an establishment to which any Scheme or the Insurance Scheme applies in respect of any contribution payable to the Fund or, as the case may be, the Insurance Fund, damages recoverable under section 14B, accumulations required to be transferred under sub-section (2) of section 15 or any charges payable by him under any other provision of this Act or of any provision of the Scheme or the Insurance Scheme; or (b) from the employer in relation to an exempted establishment in respect of any contribution to the provident fund or any insurance fund (in so far it relates to exempted employees), under the rules ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ided that before levying and recovering such damages, the employer shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard: Provided further that the Central Board may reduce or waive the damages levied under this section in relation to an establishment which is a sick industrial company and in respect of which a scheme for rehabilitation has been sanctioned by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction established under section 4 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (1 of 1986), subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified in the Scheme. 18. An analysis of the above provisions shows that for providing financial benefits to the workers who contribute to the growth of the industries and industrialization of the country, the legislature has made provision for framing of various schemes under Sections 5(1), 6A(1) and 6C(1) and establishment of Funds under Sections 5(1), 6A(2) and 6C(2). With a view to ensure that the employers religiously comply with the mandate of provisions enacted for benefit of the workers, the legislature has not only provided for imposition of penalty under Sections 14, 14A, 14AA and damages under Section 14B, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rity to all other debts. To put it differently, sub-section (2) of Section 11 not only declares that the amount due from the employer towards contribution under the Act shall be treated as the first charge on the assets of the establishment, but also lays down that notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, such dues shall be paid in priority to all other debts. Section 14B empowers the Central Provident Fund Commissioner or such other officer as may be authorized by the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette to recover from the defaulting employer damages which shall not exceed the arrears. First proviso to this section casts a duty on the concerned officer to give the employer reasonable opportunity of hearing before imposing and recovering damages. Second proviso thereto empowers the Central Board to reduce or waive damages levied in relation to establishment which is a sick industrial company and in respect of which a scheme for rehabilitation has been sanctioned by the Board of Financial and Industrial Reconstruction. 19. Since the Act is a social welfare legislation intended to protect the interest of a weaker section of the society, i.e., the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the treaty. A policy-oriented interpretation, when a welfare legislation falls for determination, especially in the context of a developing country, is sanctioned by principle and precedent and is implicit in Article 37 of the Constitution since the judicial branch is, in a sense, part of the State. So it is reasonable to assign to damages a larger, fulfilling meaning. 20. We shall now consider the question whether the provision contained in Section 11(2) of the Act operates against other debts like mortgage, pledge, etc. Answer to this question is clearly discernible from the plain language of Section 11. The priority given to the dues of provident fund etc. in Section 11 is not hedged with any limitation or condition. Rather, a bare reading of the section makes it clear that the amount due is required to be paid in priority to all other debts. Any doubt on the width and scope of Section 11 qua other debts is removed by the use of expression all other debts in both the subsections. This would mean that the priority clause enshrined in Section 11 will operate against statutory as well as non-statutory and secured as well as unsecured debts including a mortgage or pledge. S ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r debts from its debtors arising out of such commercial activities the applicability of the doctrine of priority shall be open for consideration. 22. In State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur v. National Iron and Steel Rolling Corporation (1995) 2 SCC 19, a three-Judge Bench considered whether statutory first charge created by Section 11-AAAA of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 in favour of the State will have priority over the debts of the bank which had been secured by the borrower by creating mortgage of its factory and answered the same in affirmative by making the following observations: Section 100 of the Transfer of Property Act deals with charges on an immoveable property which can be created either by an act of parties or by operation of law. It provides that where immoveable property of one person is made security for the payment of money to another, and the transaction does not amount to a mortgage, a charge is created on the property and all the provisions in the Transfer of Property Act which apply to a simple mortgage shall, so far as may be, apply to such charge. A mortgage on the other hand, is defined under Section 58 of the Transfer of Property Act as a transfer o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rge is created on the property of the dealer, the property subjected to the first charge is the entire property of the dealer. The interest of the mortgagee is not excluded from the first charge. The first charge, therefore, which is created under Section 11-AAAA of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act will operate on the property as a whole and not only on the equity of redemption as urged by Mr. Tarkunde. In the present case, the section creates a first charge on the property, thus clearly giving priority to the statutory charge over all other charges on the property including a mortgage. The submission, therefore, that the statutory first charge created by Section 11-AAAA of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act can operate only over the equity of redemption, cannot be accepted. The charge operates on the entire property of the dealer including the interest of the mortgagee therein. Looked at a little differently, the statute has created a first charge on the property of the dealer. What is meant by a first charge ? Does it have precedence over an earlier mortgage? Now, as set out in Dattatreya Shanker Mote case (1974) 2 SCC 799 a charge is a wider term than a mortgage. It would cover within ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ence over them. 25. Recently, in Central Bank of India v. State of Kerala 2009(4) SCC 94, the issue was considered in a slightly different perspective. The appellant-bank had challenged the vires of Section 26-B of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, whereby first charge was created on the property of the dealer or the person liable to pay tax by contending that the same was beyond the legislative competence of the State and was also inconsistent with the provisions contained in the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1963 and the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002. In the connected appeals, vires of Section 38C of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 was challenged on similar grounds. This Court considered various facets of the challenge and held that the provisions contained in the Sales Tax Act were not beyond the legislative competence of the State. The Court further held that there is no inconsistency between the provisions of the State and Central Acts and the non obstante clauses contained in the Central legislations will not override the provisions of the State legislations by whic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The workmen contribute to the growth of the capital and must get their legitimate share in the assets of the company when the situation arises for its closure and distribution of its assets first among the secured creditors due to winding up of the company. The aforesaid amendment made in the Act is a statutory recognition of this principle equating the legitimate dues of the workmen with the debts of the secured creditors of the company. To achieve this purpose, it is necessary that the amended provision must apply to all available securities which form part of the assets of the company in liquidation on the date of the amendment. The conclusion reached by the Division Bench of the High Court is supported by this reason. (emphasis supplied) 27. In A.P. State Financial Corporation v. Official Liquidator (supra), this Court considered the inter-play of Section 29(1) of the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951 and Section 529A of the Companies Act, 1956, which is pari materia to Section 11(2) of the Act, and held: The Act of 1951 is a special Act for grant of financial assistance to industrial concerns with a view to boost up industrialisation and also recovery of such fin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the workers dues and such charge will be pari passu with the charge of the secured creditors. There is no other statutory provision overriding the claim of the secured creditors except Section 529-A. This section overrides preferential claims under Section 530 also. Under Section 529-A the dues of the workers and debts due to the secured creditors are to be treated pari passu and have to be treated as prior to all other dues. 29. The primacy of first charge created under Section 11(2) of the Act was considered by a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in Recovery Officer and Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner v. Kerala Financial Corporation (2002) 2 KLT 723, in the backdrop of the argument that the provision contained in Section 46-B of the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951 which also contains a non obstante clause, will override the provisions of the Act. In that case, the Recovery Officer appointed under the Act made an application for recovery of the dues of provident fund payable by the employer-company. He also attached 37 cents of land which the company had mortgaged to the State Financial Corporation. The latter challenged the action of the Recovery Officer by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for this is obvious. While the State Financial Corporation would have to be helped to recover the debts due to it from a defaulting debtor, the provident fund payable to workers is of greater moment, since it is a matter of terminal social security benefit made available by statute to the working class. Taking into consideration that the EPF and MP Act is a social benefit legislation, and the evil consequences of provident fund dues being defeated by prior claims of secured or unsecured creditors, the legislature took care to declare that irrespective of when a debt is created, the dues under the EPF and MP Act would always remain first charge and shall be paid first out of the assets of the establishment. We are also not impressed by the contention of the first respondent that upon usage of non obstante clause in Section 46-B of the SFC Act. Sub-section (2) of Section 11 of the EPF Act is of subsequent date. No doubt, both Section 46-B of the SFC Act and Section 11(2) of the EPF and MP Act declare their intent by usage of the non obstante clause. But, since Section 11(2) of the EPF and MP Act has been enacted later, we must ascribe to Parliament the intention to override the earl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fety of the goods and take upon itself the responsibility for any shortage, damage or shrinkage and insure the goods against any damage or loss or riots or civil commotion. In our considered view, the very fact that except giving the symbolic custody of the sugar bags to the appellant-bank by allowing it to put lock and key on the godowns, all steps for preserving the goods and getting the same insured were taken by the management of the Sugar Mills which also agreed to take the responsibility of any shortage, damage or shrinkage unmistakably shows that the Sugar Mills continued to be owner of the sugar bags. 32. As per Black s Law Dictionary (Eighth edition), pledge is a formal promise or undertaking; the act of providing something as security for a debt or obligation; a bailment or other deposit of personal property to a creditor as security for debt or obligation. In the Law of Personal Property by Ray Andrews Brown (Second edition 1936), the term pledge has been described in the following words: A pledge is a bailment of personal property to secure an obligation of the bailor. If the purpose of the transaction is to transfer property for security only, then the Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... upon tender of the amount advanced but that right would be lost if the pawnee has in the meantime lawfully sold the property pledged. A contract of pawn thus carries with it an implication that the security is available to satisfy the debt and under this implication the pawnee has the power of sale on default in payment where time is fixed for payment and where there is no such stipulated time on demand for payment and on notice of his intention to sell after default. The pawner however has a right to redeem the property pledged until the sale. If the pawnee sells, he must appropriate the proceeds of the sale towards the pawner s debt, for, the sale proceeds are the pawner s monies to be so applied and the pawnee must pay to the pawner any surplus after satisfying the debt. The pawnee s right of sale is derived from an implied authority from the pawner and such a sale is for the benefit of both the parties. He has a right of action for his debt notwithstanding possession by him of the goods pledged. But if the pawner tenders payment of the debt the pawnee has to return the property pledged. If by his default the pawnee is unable to return the security against payment of the debt, t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pledged goods as collateral security. If the debt is ordered to be paid he has to return the goods or if the goods are sold with or without the assistance of the court appropriate the sale proceeds towards the debt. But if he sues on the debt denying the pledge, and it is found that he was given possession of the goods pledged and had retained the same, the pawner has the right to redeem the goods so pledged by payment of the debt. If the pawnee is not in a position to redeliver the goods he cannot have both the payment of the debt and also the goods. Where the value of the pledged property is less than the debt and in a suit for recovery of debt by the pledgee, the pledgee denies the pledge or is otherwise not in a position to return the pledged goods he has to give credit for the value of the goods and would be entitled then to recover only the balance 35. In Bank of Bihar v. State of Bihar (1972) 3 SCC 196, this Court considered the question whether the Cane Commissioner, who was an unsecured creditor of the Sugar Mill named Jagdishpur Zamindari Company Limited and did not have any right of priority over other creditors and in particular the secured creditors of the company ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... han the pawnor and was entitled only to the surplus money after satisfaction of the plaintiff s dues. 36. The ratio of the above noted two judgments is that in a contract of pawn the property pledged should be actually or constructively delivered to the pawnee and pawnee has only a special property in the pledge but the general property remains with the pawner and wholly reverts to him on discharge of debt. The right to property vests in the pledgee only so far as necessary to secure his debt. We, therefore, hold that the deeds of pledge executed by the management of the Sugar Mills as security for repayment of loan etc. did not have the effect of transferring of the ownership of the sugar bags to the appellant-bank and the Recovery Officer did not commit any illegality by attaching the same and the High Court was fully justified in directing payment of a portion of the sale price to the Assistant Commissioner for being appropriated towards the provident fund dues of the workers. 37. Before leaving this issue, we may refer to the judgments on which reliance has been placed by the learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant-bank. The question which fell for consideration ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ged with the appellant-bank. The appellant-bank got itself impleaded as party to the writ petition. As the stock of sugar was likely to lose its value by being stored indefinitely, the High Court directed sale thereof. The writ petition was finally dismissed by the learned Single Judge. During the pendency of the appeal, the Division Bench made an interim order directing disbursement of a portion of the sale proceeds to the Labour Commissioner and Cane Commissioner for being paid to the employees of the company and sugarcane cultivators. The bank challenged the interim order by contending that as the sugar was pledged with it, the High Court could not have ordered disbursement of a portion of the price. After making reference to various judgments including Bank of Bihar v. State of Bihar (supra) and Karnataka Pawnbrokers Association v. State of Karnataka (supra), this Court held: Thus, going by the principles governing the matter propounded by this Court, there cannot be any doubt that the rights of the appellant Bank over the pawned sugar had precedence over the claims of the Cane Commissioner and that of the workmen. The High Court was, therefore, in error in passing an inter ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ties. In Velchand Chhaganlal v. Mussan 14 Bom.L.R. 633, it was held that the word `assets means, a man s property of whatever kind which may be used to satisfy debts or demands existing against him. 42. As per Salmond s Jurisprudence, the word property means in its widest sense, property includes a person s legal rights, of whatever description. A man s property is all that is his in law. This usage however, is obsolete at the present day, though it is common enough in the older books. In a second and narrower sense, property includes not all a person s rights, but only his proprietary as opposed to his personal rights. The former constitutes his estate or property, while the latter constitute his status or personal condition. In this sense a man s land, chattel, shares and the debts due to him are his property; but not his life or liberty or reputation . In a third application, which is that adopted (here) the terms includes not even all proprietary rights but only those which are both proprietary and in rem. The law of property is the right of proprietary rights in rem, the law of proprietary rights in personam being distinguished from it as the law of obligations. Accordi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... etween symbolic and physical possession and observed that the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 basically deals with the securities by which the creditor obtains ownership of or interest in the property concerned i.e., mortgages and the securities under which the secured creditor, namely, the Bank/Financial Institution obtains interest in the property concerned. 46. We shall now deal with the last argument of the learned senior counsel for the appellant-bank that the interest payable in terms of Section 7Q and damages imposed under Section 14B of the Act cannot be treated as first charge on the assets of the establishment payable in priority to all other debts within the meaning of Section 11(2). 47. Section 11 gives statutory priority to the amount due from the employer vis- -vis all other debts. Clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 11 is applicable to cases where an employer is adjudicated insolvent or, being a company, an order of its winding up is made. In that situation, the amount due from the employer in relation to an establishment to which any Scheme or the Insurance Scheme applies in respect of any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the unsecured creditors. While enacting sub-section (2), the legislature was conscious of the fact that in terms of existing Section 11 priority has been given to the amount due from an employer in relation to an establishment to which any scheme or fund is applicable including damages recoverable under Section 14B and accumulations required to be transferred under Section 15(2). The legislature was also aware that in case of delay the employer is statutorily responsible to pay interest in terms of Section 17. Therefore, there is no plausible reason to give a restricted meaning to the expression any amount due from the employer and confine it to the amount determined under Section 7A or the contribution payable under Section 8. If interest payable by the employer under Section 7Q and damages leviable under Section 14 are excluded from the ambit of expression any amount due from an employer , every employer will conveniently refrain from paying contribution to the Fund and other dues and resist the efforts of the concerned authorities to recover the dues as arrears of land revenue by contending that the movable or immovable property of the establishment is subject to other deb ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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