JUDGMENT :

The appellant was the applicant in ECC No.1198/2016 before the Court of Employees Compensation Commissioner (Industrial Tribunal), Thrissur. The application was filed claiming a lumpsum compensation towards the functional disability sustained by him in an accident arising and in the course of his employment under the first opposite party.

2. The applicant was employed as a driver by the first opposite party in his vehicle bearing registration No. KL 41/6270. On 18.09.2011, at about 1 p.m., when the vehicle was towed with the help of another vehicle for repair and when the vehicle reached Elavoor Kavala near Karukutty, Angamaly, he got down from the vehicle and went to the rear side of the pulling vehicle in order to unloose the rope. While doing so, the hand brake of the vehicle got slipped, and the vehicle hit the applicant from behind. He got jammed in between the two vehicles and sustained serious injuries. He was taken immediately to the Mar Augustine Golden Jubilee Hospital, Mookkannur, and thereafter to the Medical Trust Hospital, where he was admitted as an inpatient and treated. He claimed a compensation of Rs. 3,00,000/- from the opposite parties.

3. The Commissio