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Fulmati Dhramdev Yadav & Anr. vs New India Assurance Co. Ltd. & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 790Decided 4 Sept 2023
Civil Appeal No. 4713 of 2023
Abhay S. Oka · Sanjay Karol

Background

A truck driver died in 2009 when a log he was tying onto a trailer fell on his leg while he was working. His mother and wife claimed compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923, but the insurer denied he was actually employed by the truck owner, citing lack of employment documents. The Workmen's Compensation Commissioner ruled in the family's favour and awarded compensation with a penalty on the employer for delay, but the Gujarat High Court, hearing only the insurer's appeal, reversed this and held the claimants had failed to prove the employer-employee relationship.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that an appeal under Section 30 of the 1923 Act to the High Court can only be entertained if it raises a "substantial question of law," and the High Court's judgment did not frame any such question nor find the Commissioner's findings to be perverse. It had simply re-appreciated the facts, which is outside its limited appellate jurisdiction since the Commissioner is the last authority on facts under this welfare statute. On the facts themselves, the Court found multiple circumstances (police panchnama records, presence of the employer's supervisor at the accident site, and an unrebutted claim of employment) supported the Commissioner's conclusion that the deceased was indeed the employer's employee, making it at least "a possible view" that could not be interfered with. The High Court's judgment was set aside and the Commissioner's original compensation award was restored in full.

Lesson Learnt

Because workmen's/employees' compensation law is social welfare legislation meant to help economically vulnerable workers and their families, appellate courts cannot casually re-weigh the facts found by the specialist Compensation Commissioner. They can only step in where there is a genuine substantial question of law or clear perversity in the findings, not merely because they would have decided the facts differently.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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