In Brief
The Supreme Court held that the ESIC cannot validly invoke Section 45A of the Employees' State Insurance Act merely because it considers an employer's records inadequate. Section 45A applies only when records are not furnished or inspection is obstructed. In this case, the employer produced ledgers, cash books, vouchers, and returns, and attended multiple hearings. Since records were produced and cooperation was evident, the statutory preconditions for invoking Section 45A were not satisfied. The Court quashed the ESIC's demand for contributions (₹5,42,575.53) for 1988–1992 and set aside the orders of the Employees' Insurance Court and High Court, holding that the corporation must follow the normal assessment procedure under Section 75 with the applicable limitation period rather than circumvent statutory safeguards.
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