Alok Kumar Ghosh vs New India Assurance Company Ltd; 2025 INSC 1239 - Employee’s Compensation Act - Insurer As Party Respondent
Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923 - Section 19 - By virtue of power to determine liability under Section 19, the Commissioner would have power to make the insurer jointly and severally liable with the employer to pay compensation if the same falls within the scope of the contract of insurance. (Para 13)
Practice and Procedure - SC deprecates Practice of Insurance Companies unnecessarily filing appeals by raising technical pleas more so when they do not deny their ultimate liability under the contract of insurance. (Para 19)
Case Info
- Case name: Alok Kumar Ghosh vs The New India Assurance Company Ltd & Anr.
- Neutral citation: 2025 INSC 1239.
- Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Manoj Misra; Hon’ble Mr. Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh.
- Judgment date: October 09, 2025.
Caselaws and Citations
- Mahendra Rai vs. United India Insurance Company Ltd. & Anr. (Civil Appeal No. 6697 of 2014, decided on July 23, 2014).
- New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Harshadbhai Amrutbhai Modhiya & Anr. (2006) 5 SCC 192.
- P. J. Narayan v. Union of India (2006) 5 SCC 200.
- Gottumukkala Appala Narasimha Raju v. National Insurance Co. Ltd. (2007) 13 SCC 446.
Statutes/Laws Referred
- Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 (now Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923), notably Section 19 and reference to Section 3 (employer’s liability).
- Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, notably Section 149 (contrasted for insurer’s statutory liability).
#SupremeCourt holds that the Commissioner under the Employee’s Compensation Act, has the power to make the insurer jointly and severally liable with the employer to pay compensation if the same falls within the scope of the contract of insurance. https://t.co/gYvOjk3lU3 pic.twitter.com/Bhu4YtIKfQ
— CiteCase 🇮🇳 (@CiteCase) October 16, 2025
#SupremeCourt deprecates Practice of Insurance Companies unnecessarily filing appeals by raising technical pleas ! https://t.co/gYvOjk3lU3 pic.twitter.com/2lbs3xpQyk
— CiteCase 🇮🇳 (@CiteCase) October 16, 2025
