Krishan Chander v. Neeraj Kumar And ANR.

Claimant is in appeal seeking enhancement of compensation awarded by Commissioner under the 1923 Act. Claimant is father of deceased-Sandeep. As per the claimant, deceased-Sandeep was employed with respondent No.1 as a Driver on a monthly salary of Rs. 9,000/-. On 15.05.2011, the vehicle owned by respondent No. 1 and driven by Sandeep met with an accident, and Sandeep lost his life. The Commissioner held that deceased-Sandeep died in an accident arising out of and during the course of employment and awarded a compensation of Rs.5,38,108/- along with other statutory benefits like interest, funeral expenses and medical expenses. Counsel for the claimant has drawn attention of this Court to the discussion made in para 14 of the impugned order wherein the salary of the deceased has been taken to be Rs.

4,893/- relying upon the minimum wages notified by State of Haryana. He submits that the wages have to be taken as notified by Central Government under Section 4 (1B) of the 1923 Act. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and after carefully perusing the records of the case, this Court finds that the Commissioner erred in relying upon the notification issued by State Government under Minimum Wages Act, 1948. In terms of the mandate of Section 4 (1B) of the 1923 Act, the Commissioner was required to assess compensation taking into consideration notification issued by Central Government. Date of accident is 15.05.2011. Vide notification dated 31.05.2010, Central Government notified the monthly wages for the purpose of computing compensation under Section 4 of the 1923 Act to be Rs. 8,000/-.