- (1.) THIS is an application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, in which the petitioner has prayed for writ in the nature of the Habeas Corpus.
(2.) IT is the grievance of the petitioner namely, Smt. Meera Roy that her husband has been taken into custody by the Provident Fund Authority, although such Provident Fund Authority is not legally authorised to take any person into custody.
(3.) THE learned Advocate appearing for the Provident Fund Authority submits that the husband of the petitioner being an employer was detained in custody for non-payment of provident fund dues amounting to Rs. 2,47,031/- (Rupees Two lakhs forty seven thousand thirty one only) for the period from september 2003 to August 2005. The learned Advocate of the Provident Fund authority also refers to Section 8b (b) of the Employees Provident Funds and miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and submits that in view of that provisions of the Act, the Provident Fund Authority is empowered to arrest a person and detain in prison. The provisions of Section 8b (b) reads as follows:- "8b. Issue of certificate to the Recovery Officer.- (l) 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 ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (b) Arrest of the employer and his detention in prison; (c ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;