Delayed ESI and PF employee contributions are nondeductible; other deletions stood where remand caused no further addition.

Employees' contribution to ESI and PF deposited after the statutory due dates was held not deductible, applying the settled principle from Checkmate Services Pvt. Ltd., and the disallowance was sustained in favour of the Revenue. As to the other additions, the remand course adopted by the first appellate authority was noted as beyond power for the year involved, but the Assessing Officer, on remand, accepted the explanation and made no further addition; since no effective prejudice survived, the deletions were left undisturbed and the challenge failed on that aspect.

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Issues: (i) whether the disallowance of employees' contribution to ESI and PF for delayed deposit was sustainable; (ii) whether the deletion of other additions could be disturbed where the Assessing Officer, after remand, made no addition.

Issue (i): whether the disallowance of employees' contribution to ESI and PF for delayed deposit was sustainable.

Analysis: The delay in depositing employees' share of contribution towards ESI and PF beyond the due dates prescribed under the respective welfare enactments was held to be not allowable in view of the settled law applied from the Supreme Court ruling in Checkmate Services Pvt. Ltd.

Conclusion: The disallowance was upheld and the addition was sustained, in favour of the Revenue.

Issue (ii): whether the deletion of other additions could be disturbed where the Assessing Officer, after remand, made no addition.

Analysis: Although the remand course adopted by the first appellate authority was found to be beyond power for the relevant year, the Assessing Officer, after examining the material on remand, accepted the explanation and made no further addition. Since no effective prejudice survived, the challenge to those deletions was treated as not warranting interference.

Conclusion: The ground was dismissed and the deletions were left undisturbed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was allowed only on the issue of employees' contribution to ESI and PF, while the remaining challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Employees' contributions to welfare funds deposited beyond the statutory due dates are not deductible, and a remand challenge becomes inconsequential where the Assessing Officer, on reconsideration, makes no addition.

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