RUBY INTER NATIONAL ANNAPURNA METAL Vs. DEVENDRA SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal of the defendants, appellants herein, from the judgment and order dated March 29, 2008 passed by the concerned commissioner, Moradabad, appointed under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (hereinafter called as the 'commissioner')awarding a sum of Rs. l,87,182/-on account of injury sustained by the claimant/respondent herein, along with penalty of Rs. 93,000/ -. Learned counsel appearing for both the contesting parties agreed about hearing of the appeal on the informal papers at the stage of admission, accordingly the Court has proceeded.

(2.) THE question arose before the commissioner about master-servant relationship between the appellants-employer and the respondent-employee, who became injured by the cause of accident. The claimant asserted that he was under the employment of the appellants for last ten years, which the appellants have refused. In such circumstances, the Commissioner called upon the appellants to produce attendance registers and salary registers of the years 2005 and 2006 along with those of the relevant year, but the appellants avoided the same and produced the document only for the relevant period to establish that on the date and time of the accident the injured/claimant was not in the employment. The Commissioner disbelieved the statement of the appellants based on the solitary document and discarded their conduct for non-production of the documents, and drew an adverse inference.

(3.) BY preferring this appeal, the appellants contended that onus to prove employment is primarily lying with the employee not with the employer. Therefore, they are not supposed to produce the documents, as such their refusal to produce the documents is appropriate and no adverse inference can be drawn by the commissioner.