- (1.) In this appeal the question raised for our consideration is whether the Employees' Insurance Court and the High Court were justified in upsetting the order imposing damages for not making the ESI contributions in time, or not.
(2.) The respondent took the stand that on account of financial constraints and the fact that it had gone sick, it was not in a position to make the timely payments to the benefit of the insured persons.
(3.) The damages imposed were for the period from May, 1976 to January, 1981. The E. S. I. Court considered this aspect of the matter and took the view that the fact that the respondent was sick was not in dispute and the respondent was in terrible financial state for several years, and in those circumstances when there was no dishonest or contumacious conduct on the part of the respondent or acted in conscious disregard of its obligation or acted either deliberately or in defiance of law, held that following the decision of the High Court in Regional Director, E. S. I. Corpn. v. Sakthi Tiles, 1994- III-LLJ (Suppl) -1197 (Ker-DB) the damages should be deleted and when the matter was carried in a writ petition to the High Court, the order made by the E. I. Court, stood affirmed.;