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Unit 3: Rules regarding the Workmen’s Compensation Act
3.6.6 Withholding of Certain Payments Pending Decision of Appeal Notes
[Section 30A]
Where an employer makes an appeal under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 30 the
Commissioner may and if so directed by the High Court shall pending the decision of the
appeal withhold payment of any sum in deposit with him.
Task Critically analyse the task and procedures of the Commissioners of your area.
Self Assessment
Fill in the blanks:
16. No Civil Court shall have jurisdiction to settle decided or deal with any question which is
by or under this Act required to be settled decided or dealt with by a ................................ or
to enforce any liability incurred under this Act.
17. Every Commissioner shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the
.........................................
18. The Commissioner shall have all the powers of a Civil Court under the Code of Civil
Procedure ......................................... for the purpose of taking evidence on oath.
Case Study A Madras High Court Judgment Calls for
an Amendment of the Workmen’s Compensation Act,
1923, to Benefit the Worker
Judgment of the Madras High Court has raised the hopes of lakhs of workers,
particularly those in the unorganised sector, of getting a fair deal in case of an
Aaccident at the workplace or a fair compensation to their dependents in case of
death. The judgment calls for the amendment of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923,
which fixes a ceiling of 4,000 a month as the maximum wage of a labourer while calculating
the “employment injury compensation” to an injured workman or while arriving at the
compensation to dependents in case of death. Against the backdrop of criticism in trade
union circles that the “judiciary has turned its back on the working people and the poor,
particularly since the era of economic liberalisation”, Justice N. Kirubakaran, in his
February 8 judgment, observes thus: “Minimum monthly wages can be fixed and there
cannot be any ceiling on the monthly wages. Fixing maximum monthly wages is
detrimental to the interests of the working class and would certainly affect the fundamental
rights of the workers guaranteed under Articles 19 (1) (g) [Right to carry on occupation]
and 21 [Right to life].” He said fixing 4,000 as the maximum wage, under Section 4 (1)
Explanation II of the Act, went against the very object of the Act and it was high time the
Act was amended.
The judgment comes in the wake of an appeal by the Oriental Insurance Company against
the award of 4,34,650 to a mason who suffered 80 per cent disability in an accident during
the course of employment on August 20, 2003, and claimed 3,00,000 as compensation.
Going into two “substantial questions of law at the time of admission” of the appeal, the
Contd....
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