In a significant clarification of the Employees’ Compensation Act, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that accidents occurring during an employee’s commute to or from the workplace fall within the scope of “accident arising out of and in the course of employment,” provided there is a clear link between the accident and the employee’s work conditions.
A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and K V Viswanathan acknowledged that there has long been ambiguity regarding Section 3 of the Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923, particularly in cases involving accidents that occur during transit between an employee’s home and place of work.
The ruling came in response to an appeal challenging a 2011 decision of the Bombay High Court, which had overturned a compensation award to the family of a sugar factory watchman who died in a road accident while on his way to report for duty.
“We interpret the phrase to include an accident occurring to an employee while commuting… provided the nexus between the circumstances, time and place in which the accident occurred and the employment is established,” the Supreme Court said.
The deceased watchman, employed at a sugar factory, was scheduled to report for duty at 3:00 am on April 22, 2003. He died in an accident around five kilometers from his workplace while commuting to report for duty. The Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner had earlier awarded his family Rs 3,26,140 in compensation, with interest, under the EC Act—a decision later set aside by the Bombay High Court.
Reversing the high court’s decision, the apex court observed that the timing, location, and purpose of the commute established a sufficient nexus to the employment. It emphasized that since the employee was proceeding punctually for his night shift duty, the accident was clearly in the course of his employment.
“Considering that the deceased was dutifully proceeding to his workplace to be well on time, there was a clear nexus… and his employment as watchman,” the bench observed.
The Supreme Court reinstated the original compensation order and restored the judgment of the Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner and Civil Judge, bringing much-needed clarity on the applicability of the law to commuting accidents.
