Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923
14. Insolvency of employer
Where any employer has entered into a contract with any insurers
in respect of any liability under this Act to any workman then in the event of
the employer becoming insolvent or making a compensation or scheme of
arrangement with his creditors or if the employer is a company in the event of
the company having commenced to be wound up the rights of the employer against
the insurers as respects that liability shall notwithstanding anything in any
law for the time being in force relating to insolvency or the winding up of
companies be transferred to and vest in the workman and upon any such transfer
the insurers shall have the same rights and remedies and be subject to the same
liabilities as if they were the employer so however that the insurers shall not
be under any greater liability to the workman than they would have been under
the employer. If the liability of the insurers to the workman is less than the
liability of the employer to the workman the workman may prove for the balance
in the insolvency proceedings or liquidation. Where in any case such as is
referred to in sub-section (1) the contract of the employer with the insurers
to void or voidable by reason of non-compliance on the part of the employer
with any terms or conditions of the contract (other than a stipulation for the
payment of premia) the provisions of that sub-section shall apply as if the
contract were not void or voidable and the insurers shall be entitled to prove
in the insolvency proceedings or liquidation for the amount paid to the workman
: Provided that the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply in any case
in which the workman fails to give notice to the insurers of the happening of
the accident and of any resulting disablement as soon as practicable after he
becomes aware of the institution of the insolvency or liquidation proceedings.
There shall be deemed to be included among the debts which under
section 49 of the Presidency-towns Insolvency Act 1909 (3 of 1909) or under
section 61 of the Provincial Insolvency Act 1920 (5 of 1920) or under Section
530 of the Companies Act 1956 (1 of 1956) are in the distribution of the
property of an insolvent or in the distribution of the assets of a company
being wound up to be paid in priority to all other debts the amount due in
respect of any compensation the liability where for accrued before the date of
the order of adjudication of the insolvent or the date of the commencement of
the winding up as the case may be and those Acts shall have effect accordingly.
Where the compensation is a half-monthly payment the amount due in respect
thereof shall for the purpose of this section be taken to be the amount of the
lump sum for which the half-monthly payment could if redeemable be redeemed if
application were made for that purpose under section 7 and a certificate of the
Commissioner as to the amount of such sum shall be conclusive proof thereof.
The provisions of sub-section (4) shall apply in the case of any amount for
which an insurer is entitled to prove under sub-section (3) but otherwise those
provisions shall not apply where the insolvent or the company being wound up
has entered into such a contract with insurers as is referred to in sub-section
(1). This section shall not apply where a company is wound up voluntarily
merely for the purposes of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another
company.