MANUAL D SILVA Vs. AUGUSTINE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) An interesting question arises for decision here. Is a workman employed in repairing a motor boat a 'workman' falling with in the coverage under the Workmen's Compensation Act The Commissioner for Workmens' Compensation has found that he is not and the workman has filed this appeal to this Court. A workman is defined in S.2(n) of the Act as a person employed on monthly wages not exceeding one thousand rupees in any such capacity as is specified in Schedule.2. Schedule lists a number of employments as falling within the definition of the term workman. There is no case for the appellant workman that he would fall within any of the classes excepting class (i). That reads: " ...... any person who is -

(2.) 'Repair' in the ordinary sense means 'to keep something in its normal state'. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary "repair" is explained as meaning restoring to sound condition. When, in the name of repair, alterations or modifications are made so as to change the original form it ceases to be 'repair'. It would be modification. When the original article is incapable of being restored to its original condition excepting by an outlay which would be almost as costly as the original article itself that again would not be repair. But where, in the normal course, work is done on an article or thing to keep it in sound condition that would be 'repair' required to maintain that article or thing. The term 'maintenance' is larger in scope than the term repair because while it may take in such work of repair as has been referred to earlier it would also take in work of periodical maintenance such as painting, lubricating and servicing. It is not correct to say that every work of repair must be outside the purview of maintenance particularly in regard to a vehicle. We are concerned here with the case of a motor boat and the work that is said to be that of repair is the work of attending to certain boards which in the usual course call for replacing. That work would, according to us, squarely fall within the term 'maintenance' and therefore class (i) would apply. The term maintenance has also the meaning "keep in repair" (Oxford Dictionary). In the context of the Motor Vehicles Construction and Use) Regulation.1955, "maintenance" was understood to mean that "the vehicle should not only be in good repair but in efficient working order". (Stroud's Judicial Dictionary; O' Neill v. Brown (1961 (1) QB 420).