Durga and Others vs Superintendent, Head Post Office

Dr. Vineet Kothari, J—The appellants-claimants have filed the present Misc. Appeal under Section 30 of the Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923 aggrieved by the judgment and award dated 13.12.1999 passed by the learned Commissioner, Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara rejecting the Claim Petition No. 45/1996 (Smt. Durga & Ors. v. Supdt. Head Post Office, Bhilwara) filed by the appellants-claimants seeking compensation on account of death of Gokal Verma, the husband of the appellant No. 1-claimant Smt. Durga and father of the appellants Nos. 2 to 4-claimants.

The present appeal has been filed by the legal representatives of the deceased workman Gokal Verma, who was working as Branch Post Master and on the fateful day of 13.03.1996, while working in the village Bhunaas, Tehsil Sahada, District Bhilwara. He was on duty on the day of ''Sheetalasthmi'' and went for drinking the water in the nearby Bawari (water storage pond/place) and fell down in the same and died. The claim petition was filed by the widow and three minor daughters of the deceased employee Gokal Verma which came to be rejected by the learned Commissioner, Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara by the impugned order dated 13.12.1999.

The relevant findings given by the learned Commissioner, Workmen''s Compensation Act, in the impugned order dated 13.12.1999 for rejecting the claim petition are quoted herein below for ready reference:--

The learned counsel Mr. Tribhuvan Gupta appearing for the appellants-claimants submitted that the Branch Post Master is covered under the definition as given in Section 2(1)(dd) read with Clause (ix) of Schedule-II of the Employee''s Compensation Act, 1923 which reads as under:--

"(ix) employed in setting up, maintaining, repairing or taking down any telegraph or telephone line or post or any overhead electric line or cable or post or standard or fittings and fixtures for the same; or"

The learned counsel Mr. Tribhuvan Gupta appearing for the appellants-claimants submitted that this aspect of the matter has not been considered by the learned Commissioner, Workmen''s Compensation Act, as also he has failed to appreciate that even if accidentally, the employee, Gokal Verma in the present case, fell down in the Bawari, while waiting for the vehicle (Bus) bringing postal articles at that time, still the death of Gokal Verma be treated in the course of employment and, therefore, the compensation for the death of employee during the course of employment ought to have been determined in accordance with the provisions of Act of 1923. The learned counsel prayed that in the circumstances of the case, the appellants-claimants, dependents of the deceased employee, ought to have been compensated and deserve to be allowed some reasonable compensation.

Per contra, the learned counsel Mr. A.K. Rajvanshy appearing for the respondent-Postal Department (Union of India) supported the impugned order dated 13.12.1999 passed by the learned Commissioner, Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara and submitted that the learned Commissioner has rightly rejected the claim petition filed by the dependents of the deceased employee, as the deceased employee was not covered under the definition of ''Workman'' for the purpose of the Act of 1923.

Having heard the learned counsels for the parties and upon perusal of the record of the case, including the reasons assigned by the learned Commissioner of Workmen''s Compensation Act, Bhilwara in the impugned order dated 13.12.1999, this Court is of the opinion that the matter deserves to be remanded back to be reconsidered by the learned Commissioner of Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara in the light of the definition of ''Workman'' as given in Schedule-II read with Section 2(1)(dd) and Clause (ix) of the Employee''s Compensation Act, 1923 which is quoted above. The evidence produced by the claimants also does not appear to have properly considered by the learned Commissioner as also the case laws referred in the impugned order have not been considered. Therefore, in the circumstances of the case, the matter is required to be reconsidered by the learned Commissioner of Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara.

Accordingly and in view of the above, the present Misc. Appeal filed on behalf of the appellants-claimants-Smt. Durga Wd/of late Gokal Verma & Ors. stands allowed. The impugned award and order dated 13.12.1999 is set aside; and the matter is remanded back to the learned Commissioner of Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara to decide the claim petition afresh in accordance with law. In view of the long lapse of the time, since the death of the deceased employee Gokal Verma in the year 1996, the learned Commissioner is requested to decide the claim petition afresh within a period of six months from today. The parties may appear before the learned Commissioner of Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara in the first instance on 07.09.2015.

No order as to costs. A copy of this order be sent to the learned Commissioner, Workmen''s Compensation Act, 1923, Bhilwara and to the parties concerned forthwith.