Winding-up discharge is not superannuation under ESI medical benefit rules, so eligibility does not arise automatically.

Cessation of employment on a company's winding-up order does not amount to deemed superannuation under Rule 61 of the ESI (Central) Rules, 1950. Rule 61 applies only when an insured person leaves insurable employment on attaining superannuation after at least five years' insurance. Although section 445(3) of the Companies Act, 1956 treats a winding-up order as notice of discharge to officers and employees, that statutory discharge is not equivalent to retirement on superannuation. Accordingly, discharge on winding up does not create eligibility for medical benefits under Rule 61.

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Issues: Whether cessation of employment on a company's winding-up order amounts to deemed superannuation so as to entitle the applicant to medical benefits under Rule 61 of the ESI (Central) Rules, 1950.

Analysis: Rule 61 applies only where an insured person leaves insurable employment on attaining the age of superannuation after having been insured for not less than five years. The winding-up order had already brought the applicant's employment to an end before the date on which he would have normally superannuated. Section 445(3) of the Companies Act, 1956 treats the winding-up order as notice of discharge to officers and employees, but that statutory discharge cannot be equated with superannuation. The expression employed in the Companies Act does not create a legal fiction that every discharged employee must be deemed to have retired on superannuation for purposes of the ESI Rules.

Conclusion: Cessation of employment due to winding up is not deemed superannuation under Rule 61, and the applicant was not entitled to the claimed medical benefits.

Ratio Decidendi: A winding-up order that discharges employees does not amount to an employee attaining superannuation for the purpose of eligibility under Rule 61 of the ESI (Central) Rules, 1950.

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