S.12 Workmen's Compensation Act Secures Right To Compensation Of Employees Engaged By Principal Employer Through Contractor: Andhra Pradesh HC

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has made it clear that Section 12 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 is intended to secure an employee's right to claim compensation not only against his immediate employer who, in the Act, is referred to as a contractor, but also against the person who had employed such contractor to execute the work.

A single judge bench of Justice Tarlada Rajasekhar Rao observed,

"The main object of enacting Section 12 of the Act is to secure compensation to the employees who have been engaged by the principal employer through the contractor for the work which the principal employer is supposed to carry out by his own employees."

The observation was made while dealing with a Civil Miscellaneous Appeal under Section 30 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 whereby the appellant argued that he was not liable to compensate the injured employee as he was not the principal employer.

The Court dismissed the appeal while relying on Delhi High Court's decision in Shri Krishnan Vs. Jasoda Devi and others, in which it was held that the Act is a social welfare legislation and its provisions have to be interpreted as to not deprive employees of the benefit of the legislation.

The Court noted that the object of the Act was to ameliorate the hardships of economically disadvantaged employees, who are exposed to risks in work or occupational hazards, by providing a cheaper and quicker machinery for seeking compensation. Section 12 safeguards the right to compensation when the employer delegates the work to another person, the Court stated.

The Court quoted the Shri Krishnan case:

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (AP) 104