NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY Vs. GOLAP BARIK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) NATIONAL Insurance Company Limited has filed this application highlighting certain difficulties encountered by parties appearing before various authorities under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (in short, the 'Act'). It is stated that in respect of identical cases under the Act, arrangement can be made to take up connected matters, otherwise possibility of dismetrically opposite views being expressed cannot be ruled out. It is indicated that there is no system of maintaining a diary in the respective offices of the authorities and no cause lists are placed in order to enable a party to know about the adjourned dates. There is no uniformity observed by authorities in directing deposits out of awarded amounts, and uniform pattern of deposit would be in the interest of all concerned.

(2.) BY way of illustration, reference is made to a particular case, i.e. W.C. Case No. 522 -D of 1993 which according to the petitioner has links with some other cases, namely, W.C. Case No. 523 -D to 525 -D of 1993. While case of the petitioner is before one authority, others are before another authority. The prayer is to take up all the cases together by one authority.

(3.) IN the circumstances we direct that in case any of the parties makes a motion before the Labour Commissioner or Joint Labour Commissioner, Bhubaneswar, for transfer of a case from a particular division on the ground that the concerned case has links with cases filed in another division, the Labour Commissioner or the Joint Labour Commissioner, as the case may be, shall consider all relevant aspects and pass appropriate orders. It is stated before us that the two Joint Labour Commissioners are posted at Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and there are two Deputy Labour Commissioners who are posted at Jeypore and Rourkela. In case the prayer relates to same division the motion has to be made before the Deputy Labour Commissioner or Joint Labour Commissioner, as the case may be. While deciding the question whether the cases are to be heard by a particular authority, the guiding factor would be whether there is any link between the cases.