Case: Jaya Biswal  Vs. Branch Manager, Iffco Tokio General Insurance Company Ltd.

way of doing it he is entitled to compensation." The above reasoning has been subsequently adopted by several High Courts. In the case of Janaki Ammal v. Divisional Engineer (1956) 2 LLJ 233), the High Court of Madras held as under:“Men who are employed to work in factories and elsewhere are human beings, not machines. They are subject to human imperfections. No man can be expected to work without ever allowing his attention to wander, without ever making a mistake, or slip, without at some period in his career being momentarily careless. Imperfections of this and the like nature form the ordinary hazards of employment and bring a case of this kind within the meaning of the Act.” While no negligence on part of the deceased has been made out from the facts of the instant case as he was merely trying his best to stop the truck from moving unmanned, even if there were negligence on his part, it would not disentitle his dependents from claiming compensation under the Act. 22. Thus, what becomes clear from the preceding discussion is that the deceased died in an accident which arose in and during the course of employment. The learned counsel for the appellants has rightly placed reliance on the decision of this Court in the case of T.S. Shylaja (supra), wherein referring to proviso of Section 30 of the E.C. Act, this Court held as under: “What is important is that in terms of the 1st proviso, no appeal is maintainable against any order passed by the Commissioner unless a substantial question of law is involved. This necessarily implies that the High Court would in the ordinary course formulate such a question or at least address the same in the judgment especially when the High Court takes a view contrary to the view taken by the Commissioner.” In the light of the well reasoned and elaborate order of award of compensation, the High Court could not have reduced the compensation amount by more than half by merely mentioning that it is in the ‘interest of justice’. It was upon the High Court to explain how exactly depriving the poor appellants, who have already lost their elder son, of the rightful compensation would serve the ends of justice. 23. Since neither of the parties produced any document on record to prove the exact amount of wages being earned by the deceased at the time of the accident, to arrive at the amount of wages, the learned Commissioner took into consideration the fact that the deceased was a highly skilled workman and would often be required to undertake long journeys outside the state in the line of duty, especially considering the fact that the vehicle in question had a registered National Route Permit. The wages of the deceased were accepted as Rs.4,000/- per month + daily bhatta of Rs.6,000/- per month, which amounts to a total of Rs.10,000/-. The High Court did not give any reason on which basis it interfered with the finding recorded by the Commissioner on the aspect of monthly wages earned by the deceased. The impugned judgment does not even mention what according to the High Court, the wages of the deceased were at the time of the accident. Such an unnecessary interference on part of the High Court was absolutely uncalled for, especially in light of the fact that the appellant Nos.1 and 2 are old and have lost their elder son and they have become destitutes. Further, under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the onus is on the employer to maintain the register and records of wages, Section 13A of which reads as under: “13-A. Maintenance of registers and records -(1) Every employer shall maintain such registers and records giving such particulars of persons employed by him, the work performed by them, the wages paid to them, the deductions made from their wages, the receipts given by them and such other particulars and in such form as may be prescribed.(2) Every register and record required to be maintained under this section shall, for the purposes of this Act, be preserved for a period of three years after the date of the last entry made therein.” From a perusal of the aforementioned section it becomes clear that the onus to maintain the wage roll was on the employer, i.e. Respondent No.2. Since in the instant case, the employer has failed in his duty to maintain the proper records of wages of the deceased, the appellants cannot be made to suffer for it. 24. In view of the foregoing, the judgment and order of the High Court suffers from gross infirmity as it has been passed not only in ignorance of the decisions of this Court referred to supra, but also the provisions of the E.C. Act and therefore, the same is liable to be set aside and accordingly set aside.25. The monthly wage of the deceased arrived at by the learned Commissioner was Rs.10,000/-. The date of birth of the deceased according to the Driver’s License produced on record is 01.07.1984. The date of death of the deceased is 19.07.2011. Thus, according to Schedule IV of the E.C. Act, the ‘completed years of age on the last birthday of the employee immediately preceding the date on which the compensation fell due’, is 27 years, the factor for which is 213.57. Hence, the amount of compensation payable to the appellants is calculated as under:Rs.10,000/- x 50% x Rs.213.57 = Rs.10,67,850/-.Funeral expenses to the tune of Rs.25,000/- are also awarded.The total amount of compensation payable thus comes to Rs.10,92,850/-.26. Further, an interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of accident, that is 19.07.2011, is also payable to the appellants over the above awarded amount. In light of the unnecessary litigation and the hardship of the appellants in spending litigation to get the compensation which was rightly due to them under the Act, we deem it fit to award the appellants costs as Rs. 25,000/-.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]23. Since neither of the parties produced any document on record to prove the exact amount of wages being earned by the deceased at the time of the accident, to arrive at the amount of wages, the learned Commissioner took into consideration the fact that the deceased was a highly skilled workman and would often be required to undertake long journeys outside the state in the line of duty, especially considering the fact that the vehicle in question had a registered National Route Permit. The wages of the deceased were accepted as Rs.4,000/- per month + daily bhatta of Rs.6,000/- per month, which amounts to a total of Rs.10,000/-. The High Court did not give any reason on which basis it interfered with the finding recorded by the Commissioner on the aspect of monthly wages earned by the deceased. The impugned judgment does not even mention what according to the High Court, the wages of the deceased were at the time of the accident. Such an unnecessary interference on part of the High Court was absolutely uncalled for, especially in light of the fact that the appellant Nos.1 and 2 are old and have lost their elder son and they have becomejudgment and order of the High Court suffers from gross infirmity as it has been passed not only in ignorance of the decisions of this Court referred to supra, but also the provisions of the E.C. Act and therefore, the same is liable to be set aside and accordingly set aside.25. The monthly wage of the deceased arrived at by the learned Commissioner was Rs.10,000/-. The date of birth of the deceased according to theLicense produced on record is 01.07.1984. The date of death of the deceased is 19.07.2011. Thus, according to Schedule IV of the E.C. Act, the ‘completed years of age on the last birthday of the employee immediately preceding the date on which the compensation fellis 27 years, the factor for which is 213.57. Hence, the amount of compensation payable to the appellants is calculated as under:Rs.10,000/- x 50% x Rs.213.57 = Rs.10,67,850/-.Funeral expenses to the tune of Rs.25,000/- are also awarded.The total amount of compensation payable thus comes to Rs.10,92,850/-.26. Further, an interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of accident, that is 19.07.2011, is also payable to the appellants over the above awarded amount. In light of the unnecessary litigation and the hardship of the appellants in spending litigation to get the compensation which was rightly due to them under the Act, we deem it fit to award the appellants costs as Rs.