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Suresh Paswan vs M/s Kla Construction Technologies Pvt. Ltd. & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 973Decided 16 Sept 2022
Civil Appeal No. 6523 of 2022
M.R. Shah · Krishna Murari

Background

Suresh Paswan, a construction worker, fell from the roof of the first floor at his employer's construction site and suffered grievous injuries resulting in 60% permanent disability, certified by a government hospital doctor in 2009. The Commissioner, Employees' Compensation awarded him Rs. 3,74,364/- based on this disability certificate. The employer appealed to the Delhi High Court, which got a Medical Board to re-examine the worker nearly nine years after the accident; that Board found no permanent disability, and the High Court set aside the compensation award on that basis.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the belated Medical Board examination, conducted about nine years after the accident, could not reliably displace the contemporaneous 2009 disability certificate documenting the injury and its effect on the worker's earning capacity at the relevant time. The Court noted the employer never sought a Medical Board examination before the Commissioner at the earliest opportunity, and that it would be unjust to award the worker nothing given he clearly suffered a genuine injury affecting his earning capacity. Since the worker had already withdrawn Rs. 3,76,236/- (50% of the deposited amount) pursuant to an earlier High Court order, the Court held that this sum, with interest, should be treated as full and final settlement of his compensation claim, and the High Court's judgment quashing the award was itself set aside in part.

Lesson Learnt

A medical re-assessment conducted years after a workplace accident is not automatically more reliable than a certificate issued near the time of injury, and courts will be wary of denying injured workers all compensation based on delayed, employer-initiated medical re-examinations.

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

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