IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R.BASANT & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE C.T.RAVIKUMAR THURSDAY, THE 26TH MARCH 2009 / 5TH CHAITHRA 1931 MFA.No. 58 of 2009() -------------------- WCC.2/2006 of W.C.C., KANNUR .................... APPELLANT(S): -------------- NATIONAL INSURANCE CO.LTD,KANNUR BY ADV. SRI.RAJAN P.KALIYATH RESPONDENT(S): --------------- 1. C.K.KUNHAMINA, W/O. POKKU, C.K.HOUSE KAYALODE,POST MAMBARAM, KANNUR. 2. C.K.IBRAHIM,S/O. POKKU, DO..DO... 3. C.K.SHAKEELA, DO. POKKU DO..DO. 4. C.K.SUHRA, D/O.POKKU DO..DO.. 5. C.K.NAUSHAD, S/O. POKKU, DO..DO.. 6. SOFIYA SEBASTIAN, S/O. SEBASTIAN HOONBUNGAL, POST KOTTIYOOR, KANNUR. THIS MISC. FIRST APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 26/03/2009, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: R. BASANT & C.T. RAVIKUMAR, JJ. ------------------------------------------------- M.F.A. No. 58 of 2009 ------------------------------------------------- Dated this the 26th day of March, 2009 JUDGMENT Basant,J. The opposite party No.2/insurer in a claim petition before the Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner is the appellant before us. The claimants are the legal heirs of a deceased workman who was employed by the 6th respondent herein. They staked a claim against the 6th respondent herein and the appellant being the insurer of the 6th respondent. By the impugned judgment, an amount of Rs.4,33,820/- was awarded as compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 (for short `the Act’). The said amount was directed to be paid along with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of the accident to the date of deposit. 2. The appellant claims to be aggrieved by the impugned M.F.A. No. 58 of 2009 -: 2 :- award. Called upon to explain the nature of the challenge which the appellant wants to raise against the impugned award, the learned counsel for the appellant submits that the appellant is aggrieved by the direction for payment of interest from the date of the accident. It is the contention of the learned counsel for the appellant that under Sec.4A(3) of the Act interest at the rate of 12% per annum is not liable to be paid from the date of the accident; but is liable to be paid from the date of the award. 3. The learned counsel for the appellant places reliance on the decisions of the Supreme Court in National Insurance Co., Ltd., v. Mubasir Ahmed (2007 (3) KLT 26 (SC)) and Kamala Chaturvedi v. National Insurance Co., (2008 (4) KLT 862 (SC)). Two Division Benches of this Court had occasion subsequently to consider the very same question. A Division Bench headed by Justice J.B. Koshy in National Insurance Co., Ltd., v. Rekha (2007 (4) KLT 386) had considered the decision in Mubasir Ahmed (supra) and has held that in the light of the earlier larger Bench decision of the Supreme Court, interest is liable to be paid from the date of accident itself. That view has later been endorsed by a subsequent decision of the another Division Bench in Harrisons Malayalam Ltd., v. Ashraf (2009 (1) KLT 825). It is true that the decision in Kamala M.F.A. No. 58 of 2009 -: 3 :- Chaturvedi (supra) is rendered after the decision in Rekha (supra). But it must be noted that in Kamala Chaturvedi (supra) the Supreme Court had only followed the dictum in Mubasir Ahmed. It is true that in Harrisons Malayalam Ltd., (supra) the decision in Kamala Chaturvedi has not been referred to also. We are satisfied that the view taken by the Division Benches of this Court in Rekha and Harrisons Malayalam Ltd., does not deserve any re-consideration. We are not persuaded to agree that the matter deserves to be referred to a larger Bench to consider the correctness of the decisions in Rekha and Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. 4. This appeal is, in these circumstances, dismissed. R. BASANT (Judge) C.T. RAVIKUMAR (Judge) Nan/