NATIONAL INSURANCE CO LTD Vs. SANTHAMANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AGGRIEVED by the award passed by the Commissioner, Workmen's Compensation (Deputy Commissioner of Labour), Salem, dated 2.8.2004 in W.C. No. 412 of 2003, the insurance company has filed the Present appeal.

(2.) THE averments made in the application are as follows: (a) THE husband of the respondent No. 1, namely, Balasubramaniam was working as a lorry driver under the respondent No. 2. On 31.12.2002 when the said Bala- subramaniam was in the course of his employment, namely, driving a lorry bearing registration No. TN 27-U 2425 at Rama- chandrapuram in Andhra Pradesh State, he had developed chest pain due to heavy workload and he was immediately taken to the local hospital at Ramachandrapuram. But even before reaching the hospital, he died. Hence, the wife of the deceased, the respondent No. 1 herein, made a claim for a sum of Rs. 5,00,000 as compensation as against the employer, the respondent No. 2 and the insurer of the vehicle, respondent No. 1 herein stating that due to the stress and strain that had been undergone during the course of employment, her husband had developed chest pain and died. (b) THE claim of the respondent No. 1 was resisted by the insurance company, denying the allegation of the claimant that the deceased died during the course of employment under the respondent No. 2 and contending that the respondent No. 1 had come forward with the claim petition taking advantage of the death of her husband only to get unlawful enrichment. (c) In order to prove the claim, on the side of the claimant, she examined herself as PW 1 and marked Exhs. A1 to A7. On the side of the respondents, the employer respondent No. 2 examined himself as RW 1 but no document was marked on his behalf. On the side of the insurance company, no evidence was let in. After analysing the evidence, the authority below came to the conclusion that the death was caused only due to the stress and strain of the work, which the deceased had undergone during the course of his employment, by relying upon the evidence of employer, RW 1 and Exh. A6, i.e., the certificate issued by the private hospital on its letterhead at Ramachandrapuram. On coming to such a conclusion, the authority below has assessed the compensation as per the Schedule of Workmen's Compensation Act and arrived at a sum of Rs. 3,03,669 and consequently directed the insurance company to pay the said amount. Aggrieved over the said finding, the present appeal is filed by the insurance company.

(3.) PER contra, the learned counsel for the respondent No. 1-claimant contended that the authority below, on appreciation of the evidence placed before him, has come to the conclusion that the deceased had died due to the stress and strain sustained during the course of employment. The said finding rendered by the authority below is purely a question of fact. As such, no interference is called for in exercising power under section 30 of the Workmen's Compensation Act since no substantial question of law is involved in the appeal.