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1955 Supreme(Ker) 82
Judges : KOSHI,KUMARA PILLAI
The Merchant Steam Navigation Co., Ltd. - Appellant
Versus
Mohammed Kunju Appukka - Respondent
Case No : A. S. No. 325 of 1952
Decided On : 07/11/1955
Advocates Appeared :
Mathew Muricken; For Appellant P. Balagangadhara Menon; C. M. Ramachandra Menon; For Respondent
Proper evidence and procedure are essential in determining workmen's compensation claims, and medical certificates alone are not admissible as evidence without proper examination and agreement by both parties.
Headnote:
Workmen's Compensation - Employer's Appeal - Act XIII of 1114 - Schedule IV - Medical Certificate - Permanent Total Disablement - Compensation for Temporary Disablement
Fact of the Case:
Respondent No.1, a workman employed by the appellants, sustained an injury to his right thumb while stacking oil drums. The Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation awarded him compensation for permanent total disablement, which was challenged by the employer through an appeal.
Finding of the Court:
The court found irregularities in the proceedings before the Commissioner, including the treatment of the injury as permanent total disablement despite the workman's claim for compensation for temporary disablement. The court also noted the use of a medical certificate without examination of the Medical Officer and cited precedents criticizing the reliance on medical certificates as hearsay evidence.
Issues: The issues included the legality of the procedure adopted by the Commissioner, the workman's entitlement to compensation, and the admissibility of the medical certificate as evidence.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the Commissioner erred in treating the injury as permanent total disablement without proper claim and evidence, and in relying solely on a medical certificate as the basis for the award. The court emphasized the need for proper evidence and the inadmissibility of medical certificates as standalone evidence.
Final Decision: The appeal was allowed, the Commissioner's order was set aside, and the workman's claim was dismissed.
1. This is an appeal by the employer from an order of the Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation awarding respondent No.1 a sum of Rs.840/- as compensation in respect of an accident and Rs. 20/- as costs of the proceeding. Respondent 1 was a workman employed by the appellants, the Merchant Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., for loading and unloading cargo from S.S. "Victoria Marie" which was in the Port of Alleppey on 10th November, 1950. The employment was made through respondent 2, the Stevedoring Contractor of respondent 1. On 10th November, 1950 the respondent was engaged in stacking oil drums in hatch No. 2 of the Steamship mentioned and while engaged in that work his right thumb got jammed between two drums, with the result he sustained a cut at the tip of the thumb and the nail got lost. The necessary medical aid was given to the workman and in due course the Alleppey Port Worker's Union took up his cause and notified the appellants that they should give him due compensation. Except an amount of Rs. 18/- paid by respondent 2 towards medical charges nothing further was done by respondent 1 or respondent 2. The workman therefore moved the Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation and the learned Commissioner found that the average weekly wages of the workman was Rs. 90/- and that the extent of the disability resulting from the accident was 20 per cent. Accordingly he found that as per schedule IV of Act XIII of 1114, (Travancore) the workman was entitled to a compensation of Rs. 840/-. The injury sustained was treated as permanent total disablement of the thumb. Deducting from the said sum of Rs. 840/- the amount of Rs.18/- paid by respondent 2, an award was made in favour of the workman for Rs. 822/- together with costs (Rs. 20/-) against respondent 1. The appeal is against this decision.
2. The learned Advocate General who appeared in support of the appeal raised several points before us and the respondent's counsel contended that the appeal itself was incompetent, in as much as no substantial question of law was involved in the appeal. The objection was straightaway overruled as in our opinion a challenge to the legality of the procedure adopted by the Commissioner would constitute a good ground for the appeal. Besides, the Advocate General's arguments covered various questions of law such as whether the applicant before the Commissioner was a workman within the meaning of the Workmen's Compensation Act and whether the injury sustained amounted to any "permanent total disablement" In the view we take of certain matters of procedure arising in the appeal it is, however, unnecessary to go into the latter questions.
3. The first irregularity we notice with respect to the proceedings before the Commissioner is that while the applicant before him, that is, the workman, had not claimed any compensation on the basis that his thumb had sustained permanent total disablement, the Commissioner treated the injury as such and proceeded to award compensation accordingly. On 1.12.1950 the Alleppey Port Worker's Union wrote to the Commissioner as follows:
"Alleppey Port Worker's Union
Alleppey.
Ref:- 479/26 Date: 1.12.50
To
M/ s. Merchant Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., Alleppey. Dear Sirs,
Ref:- Accident in S.S. Victoria Marie.
With reference to the above accident we have to inform you that Co. Mohemed Kunju Apooka had been admitted in the District Hospital on 10.11.50 and even now he is under treatment and unable to attend to his work. So we have to request you to kindly make necessary arrangements so that his rightful wages and medical charges are immediately paid. Till yesterday he had lost 8 wages. And further we have to inform you that he is liable to receive his medical charges and wages till he is completely cured of.
Requesting you once again to do the needful immediately and oblige. Yours faithfully Sd/- President".
We cannot treat the demand made here as anything more than a claim for compensation for temporary disablement. The petitio
