SASIDHARAN Vs. KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant who is the claimant in a Workmen Compensation case questions the judgment of the Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation in so far as the Commissioner did not award any interest from the date of the accident. The Commissioner awarded the compensation as follows:

(2.) The case of the appellant is that as per the amended provision of Section 4-A(3)(a) of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (hereinafter referred to as "The Act") 12%. interest has to be awarded on the amount due. Before amendment of the Act Section 4-A(3) read as follows:

(3.) The amount of compensation payable has to be paid or deposited within one month from the date of accident. In default, interest is payable from the date on which the accident occurred and not from the date of the order passed by the Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation. This has been so held by a Division Bench of this Court in The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Abdul Nazar, 1998-III- LLJ (Suppl)-488 (Ker). Rate of interest is 12% and the word used is 'shall' and therefore it is obligatory on the part of the Commissioner to grant interest at the rate of 12% from the date of accident till the date of payment, if deposit of compensation is delayed for more than a month. Liability to pay interest is different from liability to pay penalty which can be imposed only on finding that there is no justification on the part of the employer for delaying the payment.