Commencement of proceedings.
77. (1) The proceedings before an Employees' Insurance Court shall be commenced by application.
(1A) Every such application shall be made within a period of three years from the date on which the cause of action arose.
Explanation : For the purpose of this sub-section,--
(a) the cause of action in respect of a claim for benefit shall not be deemed to arise unless the insured person or in the case of dependants' benefit, the dependants of the insured person claims or claim that benefit in accordance with the regulations made in that behalf within a period of twelve months after the claim became due or within such further period as the Employees' Insurance Court may allow on grounds which appear to it to be reasonable;
(b) the cause of action in respect of a claim by the Corporation for recovering contributions (including interest and damages) from the principal employer shall be deemed to have arisen on the date on which such claim is made by the Corporation for the first time:
PROVIDED that no claim shall be made by the Corporation after five years of the period to which the claim relates;
(c) the cause of action in respect of a claim by the principal employer for recovering contributions from an immediate employer shall not be deemed to arise till the date by which the evidence of contributions having been paid is due to be received by the Corporation under the regulations.
(2) Every such application shall be in such form and shall contain such particulars and shall be accompanied by such fee, if any, as may be prescribed by rules made by the State Government in consultation with the Corporation.
COMMENTS
Where after the scrutiny of the claim by the Corporation, the claim is denied by the Corporation, then and only then considering the language of s. 77, cause of action arises to an insured person so as to commence the proceedings before the ESI Court.-- ESI Corporation v. Moti Lal 1995 (71) FLR 82.
Where by an employee a claim is made before the Corporation and the claim is accepted but in part, it would be taken that the Corporation has refused to make payment to the extent the claim of the employee has not been accepted.-- ESI Corporation v. Kailash Narain 1995 (71) FLR 10. |