General Mills India Private Limited And ANR v. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner Ii And ORS

Prasad Rajput IN IN THE THE HIGH HIGH COURT COURT OF OF JUDICATURE JUDICATURE AT AT BOMBAY BOMBAY CIVIL CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.17354 OF 2024 General Mills India Private Limited and Anr.

.. Petitioners

Versus

Regional Provident Fund Commissioner II and Ors. .. Respondents ....................

 Mr. Sanjay Ghose, Senior Advocate a/w Mr.Jeevan Ballav Pandar, Ms. Dhruti Mehta and Mr. Rohan Mandal, Advocates for Petitioners.  Ms. Payoja Gandhi a/w Ms.Devangi Manjrekar, Advocates for Respondent Nos.1 to 4.

 Ms. Purnima Awasthi, Advocate for Respondent No.5 - UOI. ...................

CORAM : MILIND N. JADHAV, J.

DATE : JULY 16, 2025 P. C.

:

1.

Heard Mr. Ghose, learned Advocate for Petitioners; Ms. Gandhi, learned Advocate for Respondent Nos.1 to 4 and Ms. Awasthi, learned Advocate for Respondent No.5 - UOI.

2.

Mr. Ghose has primarily argued the trajectory of the matter and the fact that Petitioners have surrendered their Application which they filed at the inception stage qua implementation of their provident fund scheme with respect to their employees. He would submit that alongwith the surrender Application an amount of Rs.337 crores has already been deposited by them with the Respondents as far back as in January, 2025. He would submit that allocation of the said amount is yet to be done and informed by the answering Respondents. According to the learned Advocate for Respondent Nos.1 to 4 apart

from informing about details required to confirm allocation of the amount deposited there are vital discrepancies observed which have been noted by the Corporation and which are required to be answered by the Petitioners.

3.

Considering the bonafides shown by the Petitioners in depositing a substantial sum/amount, its validation is utmost necessary at the outset before the Respondents invoke any further demand from the Petitioners or take coercive action against the Petitioners. In view of the fact that Petitioners have shown their bonafides to the aforesaid extent, I direct Respondent Nos.1 to 4 to place on Affidavit all their requirements expected from the Petitioners for the purpose of finalising/validating the allocation of the amount of Rs.337 crores deposited by Petitioners so that this Court can pass further orders as also on all other issues raised by the parties. 4.

The officers of Respondent are present in Court today. I have interacted with them. Officers have given instructions through their Advocate that they shall compile a precise list of deficiencies and requirements required from the Petitioners and place the same before the Court on Affidavit in seriatim in a chronological manner with proper explanation. Said Affidavit is directed to be filed within a period of two weeks from today. Once the same is filed, further directions will be passed after hearing the Petitioners.

5.

In the meanwhile, it is directed that no coercive steps shall be taken against the Petitioners by the Respondents in respect of the challenge maintained in the present petition until the Affidavit is filed to enable the Court to pass further orders on the next adjourned date.

6.

Stand over to 14th August, 2025. To be listed under the caption 'For Directions'.

P.R. Rajput [ MILIND N. JADHAV, J. ]