Report No. 62
5.2. Section 10(1) notice to be optional.-
In section 10(1), there is, on the part of the workman, an obligation to give notice of accident to the employer. If the notice is not given, the claim of the workman for compensation cannot be entertained unless the case falls within one of the exceptions specified in the section or unless the Commissioner waives this requirement. In our opinion this provision should be deleted. It is possible that the employer may deny receipt of notice or may not maintain the required notice-book under sub-section (3), and nice questions of fact requiring evidence may then arise. We are therefore of the view that there should be no such obligation on the workman. The giving of notice-which we would prefer to describe as an "intimation"-should be a facility allowed to the workman and not an obligation imposed on him. He can avail himself of the facility in order to preserve evidence of his bona fides. But failure to do so should not entail a bar to the claim being entertained1.
1. For redraft of section 10, see para. 5.8, supra.
Back
