JK High Court Slams JKPCC Over Delay in Worker Compensation, Upholds Interest and Penalty Payment

JK High Court Slams JKPCC Over Delay in Worker Compensation, Upholds Interest and Penalty Payment

JAMMU, Aug 30: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has rebuked J&K Projects Construction Corporation Ltd. (JKPCC) for delaying compensation to an injured worker and upheld the order to pay interest and penalty for the long wait.

Justice Sindhu Sharma, while pronouncing judgment in OWP No. 765/2015, dismissed the petition filed by JKPCC that sought to quash the order of the Commissioner under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923. The Commissioner had earlier directed the Corporation to pay Rs 1.48 lakh as interest for a seven-year delay in disbursing compensation, along with penalty.

The case dates back to August 21, 2006, when Gul Joo, a field worker with JKPCC, fell from a 40-feet-high chairlift while working at the Mujghund Tengpora Bridge site. The accident left him with multiple fractures-including neck, femur, and vertebrae injuries-resulting in 40% permanent disability.
In 2013, the Commissioner awarded him Rs 1.76 lakh as compensation. However, JKPCC released the amount seven years after the accident, forcing the worker to file another plea seeking interest and penalty for the delay. In July 2024, the Commissioner ruled in his favour, ordering the Corporation to pay additional dues.

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• Against this direction, JKPCC approached the High Court with the argument that the Workmen’s Compensation Act did not apply to it as a construction body, that the claim was time-barred, and that the Commissioner lacked jurisdiction. But the High Court rejected all contentions, observing that JKPCC had already accepted the earlier award of compensation, and thus could not evade liability for interest and penalty.

Justice Sharma relied on Supreme Court precedents, which held that interest on compensation is payable from the date of the accident, not the date of adjudication. The judgment emphasised that delayed compensation undermines the very spirit of labour welfare laws.

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