The case of the appellant was that the corporate debtor had failed to remit the employees’ contribution to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), amounting to over ₹1.17 crore. The respondent company went into liquidation, after which the appellant sent repeated communications to the Resolution Professional informing him of the amounts due to the employees.
It was contended that the amount due to the Provident Fund is not an asset of the operational creditor, but was an asset of the employees. Hence this cannot be included in the liquidation assets and could not be used for recovery in terms of the liquidation. Further, the amount due to the Employees Provident Fund Organisation is exempted under the provisions of the Code.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Chennai, however, dismissed the appellant’s plea on grounds of delay.
Source: Barandbench
