Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: January 22, 2022 at 18:01 IST
The Bombay High Court directed an employer to provide compensation to the kin of truck driver Vishakha Singh, who died of heart disease due to the stress and strain caused during his course of employment.
Justice NJ Jamadar who heard the Case stated, “I am persuaded to hold that in the facts of the instant case, the death of the deceased can be said to have been accelerated on account of the stress and strain associated with the long distance driving for almost 18 days in trying circumstances. Any other view of the matter would defeat the beneficial object of the provisions contained in Section 3 of the Employees Compensation Act, 1923.”
Advocate Amol Gatane appeared for the Petitioners and Advocate SM Dange appeared for the insurer New India Assurance Co Ltd.
On November 3, 2003, Singh had succumbed to coronary artery heart disease at Nashik while driving his truck from Ranchi to Mumbai. His family stated that he was continuously driving for 17-18 days and died due to the stress and strain.
However, the Labour Court had held that he died due to natural causes and there was no evidence to relate his demise to his employment.
The High Court stated that the Labour Court wrongly relied on Supreme Court Judgment in Shakuntala Chandrakant Shreshti v Prabhakar Maruti Garvali where the cleaner who died of heart attack was refused compensation or relief. The Court highlighted the difference between the two jobs stating that driver’s job was more stressful.
The Court held, “The aforesaid admissions, even if they can be called so, and even construed at par, do not erode the enormity of the situation, which a driver faces, on account of long and arduous journey, for almost 18 days, uninterrupted. The long distance driving for about 3600 km can be expected to generate stress and strain, even subconsciously.”
The High Court held that employer-employee relationship had been established between the travel company and the driver and the insurer also did not deny the statement explicitly.