Interim relief for 90 unaided education institutions
Madras High Court extends them the benefit of its earlier interim order
Chennai: More than 90 unaided educational institutions got an interim relief with the Madras HC extending to them the benefit of its earlier interim order, staying the operation of a 2010 notification of the government by which the unaided educational institutions were brought under the purview of employees’ state insurance Act. Referring to its earlier order, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, on Tuesday said the question of law has been referred to the larger bench of the Supreme Court - whether the ESI Act 1948 would apply to educational institutions.
Interim orders have been operating in the present matter. In view of this, the petitions are disposed of by an agreement that interim order would continue till the disposal of the matter by the SC and the parties would naturally be bound by the legal position enunciated by the SC.The bench disposed of a batch of petitions and appeals by Good Hope Matriculation Higher Secondary School in the city, Association of Management of Coimbatore Anna University Affiliated Colleges, and others, which sought to quash the December 29, 2010 notification issued by the state government.
Senior counsel K. Duraiswamy for the association and R. Sureshkumar, counsel for Good Hope, contended that a preliminary notification was issued by the state government on June 4, 2008 proposing to extend provisions of ESI Act to educational institutions, excluding government and government-aided institutions.But the final notification under the Act was not notified nor published within six months from the date of earlier notification as contemplated under the Act.
However, more than two-and-a-half years later, the government published an order in the gazette on December 29, 2010. On the expiry of six months, the preliminary notification lapses and, therefore, the government has to publish a fresh notification seeking representations from the concerned parties before issuing the final notification.