Employees Compensation Act | Any Compensation That Claimant Is Entitled To Ought To Be Paid On The Day The Expenses Were Incurred: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court held that any compensation to which a claimant is entitled ought to be paid on the day on which the applicant had incurred the said expenses.

The Court partly allowed the appeal, granting an amount of Rs 50,084 to the Appellant who challenged the Order of the Court of Employees Compensation Commissioner (Commissioner). The Court noted that the Commissioner only allowed reimbursement of medical expenses although did not consider the scope of Section 4A of the Act for payment of interest for the defaulted amount.

“Any compensation to which a claimant is entitled is to be paid on the day on which the applicant incurs the said expenses. In this case, though, the Commissioner has found that the applicant has not sustained any occupational disability and has not obtained any loss of earnings; only reimbursement of the medical expenditure was awarded. The reimbursement of the medical expenditure would definitely come within the scope of Section 4A”, Justice Basant Balaji observed.

Advocate Prabhu K.N. appeared for the Appellant and Standing Counsel P.K. Manojkumar appeared for the Second Respondent.

The Appellant was the driver of the First Respondent. An Accident occurred when he got down from the vehicle and went to the rear side of the pulling vehicle to unloose the rope of a vehicle that was towed for repair. The Appellant had applied to the Court of Employees Compensation Commissioner seeking lumpsum compensation towards the functional disability sustained by him in an accident arising in the course of his employment under the First Respondent. The Commissioner awarded a compensation of Rs.50,084/- towards medical reimbursement. However, the Appellant filed an appeal due to the non-disbursement of the interest under the Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923 (Act) which was dismissed.

The Court observed that the Commissioner awarded only the reimbursement of the medical expenditure. The reimbursement of the medical expenditure would definitely come within the scope of Section 4A, the Court noted.

The Court observed that per Section 4A of the Act if there is a default on the part of Respondents in not paying the amount as and when it became due then the Appellant is entitled to interest at the rate of 12% per annum or such other higher rate not exceeding the maximum of the lending rates of any scheduled bank, as specified in the official gazette. Therefore, the Court held that the Commissioner failed to award interest as stipulated in Section 4A of the Act.

Accordingly, the Court partly allowed the Appeal and modified the Order of the Commissioner.

Cause Title: Venugopalan v The Managing Partner (2023:KER:63851)

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