TRUSTEES OF THE PORT OF BOMBAY Vs. YAMUNABAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal arises from an application for compensation made by the respondent under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923, and the question which it seeks to raise is whether the respondent's husband received personal injury by accident arising out of, and in the course of, his employment. The facts of the ease in which the question arises are simple.

(2.) ONE Vinayak Yenku, a carpenter, was employed in a workshop situate at Alexandra Dock, Bombay, and belonging to the appellant. In the workshop he was given a table and a cupboard. There were other workmen besides Vinayak, and their tables were in line with one another. On May 13, 1950, which is the date of the accident. Vinayak went to the workshop and sat at the table assigned to him to do the work which was that of preparing a frame for a trolley. While there, a bomb exploded, as a result of which Vinayak received injuries. Ho was subsequently removed to the St. George's Hospital, where he died on the night of the same day.

(3.) THE respondent, who is the widow of the deceased Vinayak, made the present application on June 22, 1950, claiming compensation in the sum of Rs. 3,500. The appellant filed a written statement, in which two contentions were taken. It was contended, firstly, that Vinayak was not a workman within the meaning of the Act, and that the accident did not arise out of, and in the course of, his employment.