Karnataka High Court
D.P.DIVAKAR - Appellant
Versus
CHAIRMAN/personal MANAGING DIRECTOR,kuduremukha IRON AND ORE COMPANY LIMITED,kuduremukha, MOODIGERE, CHICKMAGALUR DISTRICT - Respondent
Decided On : 03-14-95
M.F.A. : 2210 of 1993
Workmen's Compensation Act - Entitlement of compensation to heirs of deceased employee - Section 3, Section 4 - The court held that the salary level stood frozen as on the date when the cause of action occurred, and the trial court had jurisdiction to entertain the application. The court also discussed the interpretation of 'injury' under the Act and the requirement of evidence to establish the cause of death in relation to employment. The court ultimately directed the respondents to pay an ex gratia compensation of Rs. 75,000 to the claimant.
Fact of the Case:
The appellant, widow of a deceased employee, filed an application for compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act. The trial court dismissed the application on the grounds of salary revision and the lack of evidence linking the death to employment-related injury.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the salary level at the time of the incident determined jurisdiction, and the lack of conclusive evidence regarding the cause of death in relation to employment led to a weak case for compensation. However, considering the circumstances, the court directed the respondents to pay an ex gratia compensation of Rs. 75,000 to the claimant.
Issues: Jurisdiction based on salary level, interpretation of 'injury' under the Act, sufficiency of evidence linking death to employment-related injury.
Ratio Decidendi: The salary level at the time of the incident determines jurisdiction under the Act. Evidence of injury or death related to employment is essential for compensation. In deserving cases, the court may mold relief beyond strict legal provisions.
Final Decision: The court directed the respondents to pay an ex gratia compensation of Rs. 75,000 to the claimant, considering the circumstances of the case.
( 1 ) THIS is an appeal, which creates a rather delicate situation for the court and raises, once more a situation whereby the court is required to almost bend over backwards for purposes of moulding a relief within the framework of the law. Though the issue appears to be relatively simple, namely, the question as to whether under the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act the heirs of the deceased employee are entitled to compensation in the light of the unusual facts of this case, the time frame itself and the paucity of evidence before the trial court have seriously complicated the matter. The appellant, in the year 1980, was employed as a supervisor with the first respondent-company. At the relevant time, his salary was Rs. 801. 80 per month. He was deputed to visit bangalore in connection with some official duties and, in the course of this visit, that too on a sunday, he suddenly died of cardiac arrest. His widow who is the present appellant 1, on her behalf and on behalf of the three minor daughters and one son, filed an application for compensation before the authority constituted under the law. The case made out by her was that her husband was in the prime of his life, that he had absolutely no history of any cardiac ailment or any other serious problems of any kind. It is her case that he was subjected to abnormally high strain and tension in the course of his employment by the company which included the fact that in addition to his work in the office, he had been deputed to bangalore and that the cumulative effect of this was that he suffered an injury, though not of the ordinary type and a visible one, which resulted in his death. To amplify the argument, even though no apparent or visible injury or accident had taken place vis-a-vis the employee, the claimants contended that the term injury should be construed in a wider sense as opposed to the conventional approach and that in the facts of the case, if it can be justifiably demonstrated that in the course of employment, the heart of the deceased had sustained an injury which resulted in his death, that compensation is still awardable. The authority concerned dismissed the application principally on two grounds, the first one being that the ACT would not apply, because due to a subsequent revision of salary which took place about approximately two years after the death of the appellant's husband, some revision in the pay scales was given effect to, as a result of which, as a notional correction, the salary of the deceased was deemed to have been revised to over Rs. 1,000/ -. On this being pointed out, the learned trial judge held that the provisions of the ACT would not apply to this case. The second ground on which the application was dismissed was that even assuming the ACT was applicable, the deceased had died at bangalore while he was on a visit there on a sunday and the learned trial judge held that it could never be construed, that whatever happened at bangalore can be termed as being either in the course of or arising out of his employment. The application was accordingly dismissed. The present appeal is directed against that order.
( 2 ) APPELLANTS' learned Advocate in the course of hissub missions, contended that the first ground on which the appellant was non-suited is clearly erroneous. It is his case that the records clearly indicated the salary of the deceased as being Rs. 801. 80/- as on the date of his death. He submits that it would almost be carrying the proposition to a position of absurdity if one were to take cognizance of any subsequent revision of the salary that has taken place after the death has occurred and that at the highest, this can be treated as a paper or a book adjustment on payment of arrears. What the law contemplates is the status of the person as on the date of the incident and he submits that in so far as the salary as on the date of the incident was below Rs. 1,000/-, that the application was clearly m
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