Lawful claim under Employee's Compensation Act must not be defeated due to hyper technical view of delay in filing: Delhi High Court

A lawful claim under the Employee's Compensation Act should not be turned down merely based on a hyper technical view of delay in filing application for restoration, the Delhi High Court recently said [Late Mohd. Asif through his mother legal heir Shabnam v. Shahid Khan & Anr.]..The observation was made single-judge Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, who held that the Employee's Compensation Act is a beneficial legislation for the purposes of providing respite to the family of the deceased who has died in an accident at work place. Delay in filing a restoration application must not be the reason to deny the rights under the Act, he underscored."The Employee's Compensation Act is a beneficial legislation for the purposes of providing some respite to the family of the deceased who passes away in an accident at the working place. On a hyper technical view of delay in filing application for restoration a lawful claim should not be permitted to be defeated," the Court said..The Court placed reliance on Manoharan vs. Sivarajan, a judgment passed by the Supreme Court, in which it was held that refusing to condone the delay can result in a meritorious claim being thrown out at the threshold and cause justice to be defeated..The petitioner/ appellant in the instant case was an uneducated lady seeking benefit under Employee Compensation Act, on ground that her son died of electrocution in the factory premises. It was alleged that there were open wires and unrepaired electricity connection in the factory..As per order, her claim petition was earlier allowed ex-parte in her favour and the respondent filed an application seeking setting aside of the said ex-parte order. The same was allowed on August 21, 2018 and thereafter the case was listed on September 12, 2018 for written statements and framing of issues.On the said date, the appellant failed to appear and therefore the petition was dismissed default, for non-prosecution as her advocate did not appear when the matter was listed..The aforesaid order recorded that despite availing last opportunity she failed to appear and file counter submissions. Therefore, the opportunity was closed.However, the High Court observed that the order of September 12, 2018 is erroneous since there was no response to be filed by the claimants on the said date. "The counter submissions referred to in order dated September 12, 2018 pertain to the review application of the respondent No.1 which review application already stood allowed on August 21, 2018 so there was no question of appellant filing any further counter submission," the Delhi High Court said..In view of the above, the Court condoned the delay in filing restoration application, and restored it to its original number on the record of the Commissioner.The Commissioner was directed to proceed with the claim petition and decide the same in accordance with law expeditiously.Parties were directed to appear before the Commissioner by November 18, 2021..[Read Order]