Manual D''silva vs Augustine

Subramonian Poli, J.—An interesting question arises for decision here. Is a workman employed in repairing a motor boat a ''workman'' falling within the coverage under the Workmen''s Compensation Act ? The Commissioner for Workmen''s Compensation has found that he is not and the workman has filed this appeal to this Court. A workman is defined in Section 2(n) of the Act as a person employed on monthly wages not exceeding one thousand rupees in any such capacity as is specified in Schedule II. Schedule lists a number of employments as falling within the definition of the term workman. There is no case for the Appellant workman that he would fall within any of the classes excepting class (i). That reads:

...any person who is:

(i) employed, otherwise than in a clerical capacity or on a railway, in connection with the operation or maintenance of or a lift or a vehicle propelled by steam or other mechanical power or by electricity or in connection with the loading or unloading of any such vehicle;

In this case it is said that the workman was employed in connection with the maintenance of a vehicle propelled by mechanical power. Of course that a motor boat is propelled by mechanical power is conceded. But it is said that at the relevant time the workman who was a carpenter and was attending to the boat was trying to replace some wooden boards on the boat by fixing screws on them since those boards had become rotten by decay. The case of the employer which seems to have appealed to the Commissioner for Workmen''s Compensation was that the workman was not engaged in connection with the maintenance of the vehicle, but only on the repair of the vehicle.

''Repair'' in the ordinary sense means ''to keep something; in its normal state''. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary repair'' is explained as meaning restoring to sound condition. When, in the name of repair, alterations or modifications are made so as to change the original form it ceases to be ''repair''. It would be modification. When the original article is incapable of being restored to its original condition excepting by an outlay which would be all most as costly as the original article itself that again would not be repair. But where, in the normal course, work is done on an article or thing to keep it in sound condition that would be ''repair'' required to maintain that article or thing. The term ''maintenance'' is larger in scope than the term repair because while it may take in such work of repair as has been referred to earlier it would also take in work of periodical maintenance such as painting, lubricating and servicing. It is not correct to say that every work of repair must be outside the purview of maintenance particularly in regard to a vehicle. We are concerned here with the case of a motor boat and the work that is said to be that of repair is the work of attending to certain boards which in the usual course call for replacing. That work would, according to us, squarely fall within the term ''maintenance'' and therefore class (i) would apply. The term maintenance has also the meaning ''keep in repair'' (Oxford Dictionary). In the context of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1955, "maintenance'' was understood to mean that ''the vehicle'' should not only be in good repair but in efficient working order''. Stroud''s Judicial Dictionary ; O'' Neil v. Brown (1961) 1 Q.B. 420.

We therefore think that the Workmen''s Compensation Commissioner was wrong in dismissing the application as not maintainable. The order of the Commissioner is set aside and he is directed to deal with the matter afresh in accordance with law. No costs.