Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923 – Appellants-claimants filed application before the Commissioner seeking compensation under the 1923 Act – Compensation of ` 3,26,140/- was granted – However, the view of the High Court was that there is no relationship between the death and the work being done by the deceased – High Court held order of the Commissioner unsustainable – Appellants/claimants filed appeal:
Held: Deceased was employed as a driver on Truck, which was owned by the respondent No. 2 – The same was fully insured – As per the terms of the Policy available on record, an additional premium was paid to cover two employees for any compensation payable under the 1923 Act – While driving the vehicle from Delhi to Baroda, the health of the deceased deteriorated – He parked his vehicle and died – It was noticed in the order passed by the Commissioner that, the employer admitted that the deceased was employed as a driver and he was on duty – With these facts on records, the Commissioner accepted the application and assessed the compensation at ` 3,26,140/- – In Param Pal Singh’s case, this Court accepted the appeal filed by the dependents of the deceased and found that even if the death had not occurred on account of any accident but the driver was consistently driving the vehicle, there is every reason to assume that long spells of driving was a material contributory factor, if not the sole cause that accelerated his unexpected death at a young age – Such an untoward mishap can reasonably be described as an accident, only attributable to the nature of employment – It squarely covers the case of the appellants – Thus, impugned order passed by the High Court set aside and order of the Commissioner restored. [Paras 7, 8, 9 and 10]
LIST OF CITATIONS AND OTHER REFERENCES
Param Pal Singh Through Father v. National Insurance Co. & Anr., (2013) 3 SCC 409 : [2012] 13 SCR 1232; Northeast Karnataka Road Transport Corporation. v. Sujatha, (2019) 11 SCC 514: [2018] 13 SCR 1043 – relied on.
Ved Prakash Garg v. Premi Devi and Others (1997) 8 SCC 1: [1997] 4 Suppl. SCR 250; National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Prembai Patel and others, (2005) 6 SCC 172 : [2005] 3 SCR 655 – referred to.
OTHER CASE DETAILS INCLUDING IMPUGNED
ORDER AND APPEARANCES
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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