Mumbai: Employer to pay Rs 20 lakh to kin of labourer who died after falling off high-rise during work

A city labour court has ordered a real estate firm to pay Rs 20 lakh in compensation to the mother of a 20-year-old skilled labourer, who died in 2016 after falling from the seventh floor of a high-rise during construction work. The court found that the employer had not provided safety equipment to the workman, Daroga Chauhan.

The compensation amount includes a penalty of Rs 7 lakh that the court ordered the firm to pay, as the relief was not paid in time.

Chauhan’s mother, Lila Devi, from village Bairag in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, had claimed in her application before the labour court that her son had been in employment of M/s. Rameshwar Infra Partners on November 11, 2016, when the fatal accident took place around 8.45 am. She said her son earned Rs 12,000 per month.

In its judgment, the court noted that it carefully went through police papers and found that the cops registered an offence against two contractors for causing Chauhan’s death by not taking precautionary measures at the construction site. It said Chauhan was working on the site of the firm that had engaged the contractor for the work. Even the basic equipment of a safety belt and helmet were not provided.

While the firm had claimed before the court that the insurance company is liable to pay all the compensation, the Commissioner for Employees Compensation and labour court judge, PM Maindargi, held that not providing safety measures is a breach in policy conditions and the insurance company cannot be held liable.