DELHI TRANSPORT CORPORATION Vs. KRISHNA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This first appeal is filed under Section 30 of the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 against the judgment of the Employees Commissioner dated 02.11.2012 which has allowed the claim petition filed by the claimant/respondent herein and who were the applicants before the Commissioner. The facts filed by the respondents before the Commissioner was that the deceased Sh. Gopal Mehto who was working as a driver with the appellant/DTC, after completing his duty to ply the bus from Delhi to Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh was sleeping on the roof of the bus from where he fell down as he was fast asleep and undergone grievous head injury resulting in this compensation claim petition. The Employees Commissioner has allowed the claim petition on the ground that the death of the deceased took place while on duty in the course of employment. In my opinion, the judgement of the Commissioner is wholly illegal and perverse. Admittedly, the duty of the deceased, Sh. Gopal Mehto had come to an end long back before he had gone to the roof of the bus to sleep. Sleeping on the top of the bus is not an act done during the course of the employment and during the course of the duty. In fact, I am sure that there are barracks provided with the employees to sleep and if there are no barracks possibly there would be appropriate allowances. In any case, if there is no provision for sleeping accommodation or allowances, yet, that cannot mean that an employee will come and sleep on top of the roof of a bus, and thereafter his dependents can claim for compensation after his death takes place on account of falling from roof where he was sleeping. The said act of sleeping on top of the bus in facts of the present case cannot be said to arise out of or can be said to be related to or in the course of the employment.

(2.) In view of the above, the appeal is allowed. Impugned judgment of the Commissioner dated 02.11.2012 is set aside. Parties are left to bear their own costs.