In a recent order, the Bombay high court held that workers rendered disabled in an accident at a construction site were liable to be compensated by the builder’s insurer.
The New India Insurance Company (NIIC) had challenged the order of the commissioner of the Workmen’s Compensation Act that had asked the insurance company to pay the workers. The NIIC’s contention was the there was no employee-employer relationship between the workers and M/S Yamuna Builders who were their clients. They stated that the claims of the workers to earn Rs.4,000 a month were false as they were working for the builders on a piece-rate basis.
Brushing aside the argument that the workers were not employees of the builder, the court held that the four workers were disabled to an extent that they would not be able to carry out the same work to earn their livelihood. Hence, they had attained “total disablement” as defined under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, and were fit to receive compensation.
For more on this, read DNA
