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Leela Bai and Another v. Seema Chouhan and Another

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 76Decided 22 Jan 2019
Civil Appeal No. 931 of 2019
Justice Arun Mishra · Justice Navin Sinha

Background

A bus driver died after accidentally falling from the roof of his bus at the end of a long day's route, shortly after eating his meal. His legal heirs claimed compensation under the Employee's Compensation Act, but the Commissioner/Tribunal rejected the claim, reasoning the accident happened after his duty hours had ended for the day.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court applied the "doctrine of notional extension" of employment recognized in earlier precedent (General Manager, B.E.S.T. Undertaking v. Agnes), holding that because the nature of the driver's job required him to remain with the bus for extended hours, sometimes not returning home for weeks, his presence at the bus stand after the scheduled arrival time was by necessity of his duties, not personal choice. Eating a meal and then climbing down from the bus roof was found to be incidental to his work rather than a break from it, so his death was held to have arisen "in the course of and out of" his employment. The Court set aside the orders denying compensation and directed that compensation be computed on the already-determined salary basis, with statutory penalty and costs, within a fixed timeline.

Lesson Learnt

Compensation for a workplace death cannot be denied just because the accident happened slightly after "official" duty hours: if the nature of the job genuinely required the worker to remain at or near the workplace, the law treats that time as still part of the employment.

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

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