The Bombay High Court has come down heavily on insurance companies for habitually failing to deposit the compensation amount payable by them to accident victims at the time of filing appeals in courts.
Section 30 of The Employees' Compensation Act, 1923, requires that the compensation be deposited in the court while filing an appeal.
Justice A H Joshi pulled up the insurance companies while he was hearing an appeal filed by New India Assurance Company challenging a lower court order awarding Rs three lakh compensation to a truck cleaner who became disabled due to an accident.
"It is seen that this appeal is filed without prior deposit of compensation amount. Section 30 of The Employees' Compensation Act requires an appeal to accompany a certificate of deposit," said the judge in a recent order.
The Employees' Compensation Act has lived in the book of law and in country for 90 years, even then, insurance companies venture to file appeal under Section 30 of the said Act without making prior deposit, remarked the judge.
"The attitude of the insurance companies exhibits that their financial might has converted their mind set to where they regard themselves to be above the law and keep on filing appeals under The Employees' Compensation Act, as if they belong to a privileged class of litigants," observed Justice Joshi.
"The insurance companies thus disregard, violate and disrespect the law, and still want to take recourse to the remedy under same law. This attitude is not just to be abhorred but needs to be deprecated with a heavy hand," the judge said.
