IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA MA No.221 of 2005 National Insurance Company Ltd, having its Regional Office at Sone Bhawan (4th. Floor), Birchand Patel Path, P.S. Sachivalaya, Distt. Patna(O.P.No.1) ……………..Appellant Versus 1. Smt.Babita Gupta S/O N.D. Gupta, Rahimkhan Gali, Chaudhary Bazar, Cuttack- …………Opposite Party No. 3 2. Mahendra Paswan,S/O Ganauri Paswan 3. Smt. Daywanti Devi,W/O Mahendra Paswan 4. Kundan Paswan 5. Sumitra Kumari 6. Munni Kumari 7. Choti Kumari All are minor brother and sisters of the deceased under the Guardianship of their father Mahendra Paswan All Residents of Village Lembua Tola Gambhar Bigha, P.S. Amas, District Gaya …….Applicants-Respondents -------------- 12. 08.07.2010 Heard learned counsel for the appellant and respondent second set i.e. claimants before court below. In this appeal there is very limited point involved and learned counsels are in agreement that matter being disposed of at this stage itself. The claimants preferred their claim of death of one Santosh Kumar Paswan, who was said to have been working as Khalasi in the truck involved. The appellant earlier filed written statement, contested the claim but undisputedly the owner of the vehicle never appeared at any point of time either before the court below or before this court in this appeal, in spite of notice. The learned counsel for the appellant was referring 2 Government’s Notification S.O No. 1188 L&E dated 31st December, 1991, the relevant portion of the same reads as such:- In exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-Section (1) and (2) of Section 20 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 (Act VIII of 1923) and in supersession of all previous notifications issued on the subject the Governor of Bihar is pleased to appoint the officers named in Column 2 of Schedule hereto annexed to be ex-officio commissioners for Workmen’s Compensation within the local limits of their respective jurisdiction as specified in Column 4 of the said Schedule and to declare that;- (a) The Presiding Officers of the Labour Court, as ex-officio Commissioners for Workmen’s Compensation shall deal with all contested cases arising under the said Act and the Rules framed thereunder; (b) The officers other than the Presiding Officer of the Labour Courts as ex-officio Commissioners for workmen’s compensation shall deal with non- contested cases only arising under the said Act and the Rules framed thereunder; (c) …………………………………….. (d) …………………………………….. It goes to show that in the event of the claim being contested only Presiding Officer of the Labour Court is competent to decide the case other than him are authorized only to deal with the cases wherein there is no contest. 3 In the instant appeal before the court below, appellant appeared and contested their claim. It was incumbent upon the Deputy Labour Commissioner, who has decided the claim to refer the dispute before competent authority for determination in accordance with law, instead of doing so, he proceeded and ultimately presided the case giving rise to this appeal. The issue involved in this appeal is squarely covered under decision of this court in a case of Branch Manager, United India Insurance Co. Ltd., Appellant vs. Sajan Ram & Anr., Respondents, reported in 2007(2) PLJR at Page- 593, wherein by placing reliance on some other decisions, it was held that the Deputy Labour Commissioner was not competent enough and, accordingly, after setting aside the award matter was remitted for reference and decision to the competent authority. In the instant case, similar is the position, consequently, impugned award is hereby set aside and matter is remitted to the court below for reference before competent authority, who shall proceed and decide the case on its own merit. It is further clear that there is no order in this appeal on merit. At the same time, it is further made clear that the party shall appear before the court below within a month on their own. It is further directed that the competent authority to proceed expeditiously, taking into consideration, the claim being old one. Praveen (Akhilesh Chandra,J.)