Punjab-Haryana High Court
Employees State Insurance Corporation vs Rajinder Kaur And Others on 27 August, 2009
Author: K. Kannan
Bench: K. Kannan
C.R. No.2960 of 2003 (O&M) -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND
HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
C.R. No.2960 of 2003 (O&M)
Date of Decision: 27.08.2009
Employees State Insurance Corporation, Sector 19, Madhya Marg,
Chandigarh through its Director
.....Petitioner
Versus
Rajinder Kaur and others ....Respondents
Present: Mr. B.S. Bhalla, Advocate
for the petitioner.
None for the respondents.
CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN
1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the
judgment ?
2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ?
3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?
-.-
K. KANNAN J.(ORAL)
1. The revision is against an order passed in execution directing additional amounts to be paid by the ESI Corporation from 17.01.1994 to 28.11.2000 by way of interest and the principal amount already determined by the ESI Court. The claim had been made before the ESI Court by the legal heirs of one Harcharan Singh who had died in the course of employment on 10.01.1994. Accepting the claim, the learned Judge, ESI Court, Bathinda found that the applicants were entitled to receive the dues admissible under the ESI Act and that they were also entitled to recover interest @ 12% per annum on the dues payable to them from the date of filing of the claim application till the date of payment of the same.
2. The ESI Corporation had calculated the amounts due and payable to the legal heirs and added also interest from the date when the C.R. No.2960 of 2003 (O&M) -2- claim petition was filed namely on 15.06.1996 till the date of payment. The claimants filed the execution petition complaining that amounts had not been paid from the date when the employer had informed namely on 17.01.1994. The Executing Court accepted the contention and directed the interest to be payable from 17.01.994.
3. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner contends that an Executing Court shall always abide by the decision already rendered and it cannot traverse beyond the orders passed by the learned Judge, ESI Court. I have already referred to the fact that in the judgment at paragraph 10, the direction of payment of interest is made only from the date of filing of the claim application. If the claim application has been made only on 15.06.1996, the Executing Court cannot direct interest from the date when the employer had informed the death of the employee. The principle that an Executing Court cannot go behind the judgment or decree is too well established and the claimants were not entitled to seek for interest for any earlier period. If they had been aggrieved about the judgment of the ESI Court passed on 26.08.2000, the remedy ought to have been in some other forum and the claimants could not have reopened the issue before the Executing Court. The execution itself had been made only on the premise that the principal amount as well as the interest from the date of claim petition had been paid but the interest for the earlier period alone had been omitted.
4. The order of the Executing Court is set aside and the civil revision is allowed. There shall be however no direction as to costs.
(K. KANNAN) JUDGE August 27, 2009 Pankaj*