Exemption under the Employees State Insurance Act lies with the appropriate Government, not the Employees' Insurance Court.

The Employees' Insurance Court lacked jurisdiction to grant exemption from the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948, because Section 87 vests that power exclusively in the appropriate Government and subjects it to the statutory procedure. Section 75(1)(g) is limited to disputes concerning contribution, benefit, dues, and other matters triable under the Act, and does not include exemption from the Act's operation. Consent of the parties, or a prior direction by the High Court, could not confer jurisdiction where none existed. The exemption order and the consequential setting aside of the demand notices were therefore void, and the High Court's reversal was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the Employees' Insurance Court had jurisdiction under Section 75 of the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 to grant exemption from the operation of the Act, when the power to grant exemption is vested in the appropriate Government under Section 87 of the Act, and whether such jurisdiction could be conferred by consent or by a direction of the High Court.

Analysis: The scheme of the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 separates the power to grant exemption from the matters triable by the Employees' Insurance Court. Section 87 expressly vests the exemption power in the appropriate Government, subject to the statutory procedure and opportunity to the Corporation, while Section 75(1)(g) is confined to disputes concerning contribution, benefit, dues, and other matters required to be decided by the Court under the Act. Grant or refusal of exemption is not a dispute between the employer and the Corporation within the meaning of Section 75(1)(g). The fact that the parties submitted to the Court's jurisdiction, or that the High Court earlier directed recourse to that forum, could not create jurisdiction where none existed. An order made without jurisdiction is a nullity and cannot survive judicial scrutiny.

Conclusion: The Employees' Insurance Court had no jurisdiction to grant exemption from the Act. The exemption order and the consequential setting aside of the demand notices were non-est, and the High Court was correct in reversing that order.

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