Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948
52A. Occupational disease
(1) If an employee employed in any employment specified in Part
A of the Third Schedule contracts any disease specified therein as an
occupational disease peculiar to that employment or if an employee employed in
the employment specified in Part B of that Schedule for a continuous period of
not less than six months contracts any disease specified therein as an
occupational disease peculiar to that employment or if an employee employed in
any employment specified in Part C of that Schedule for such continuous period
as the Corporation may specify in respect of each such employment, contracts
any disease specified therein as an occupational disease peculiar to that
employment, the contracting of the disease shall, unless the contrary is
proved, be deemed to be an 'employment injury' arising out of and in the course
of employment.
(2)(i) Where the Central Government or a State Government, as
the case may be, adds any description of employment to the employments
specified in Schedule III to the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923, by virtue of
the powers vested in it under sub-section (3) of section 3 of the said Act, the
said description of employment and the occupational diseases specified under
that sub-section as peculiar to that description of employment shall be deemed
to form part of the Third Schedule.
(ii) Without prejudice to the provisions of
clause (i), the Corporation after giving, by notification in the Official
Gazette, not less than three months' notice of its intention so to do, may by a
like notification add any description of employment to the employments
specified in the Third Schedule and shall specify in the case of employments so
added the diseases which shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be
occupational diseases peculiar to those employments respectively and thereupon
the provisions of this Act shall apply, as if such diseases had been declared
by this Act to be occupational diseases peculiar to those employments.
(3) Save as provided by sub-sections (1) and (2) no benefit
shall be payable to an employee in respect of any disease unless the disease is
directly attributable to a specific injury by accident arising out of and in
the course of his employment.
(4) The provisions of section 51A shall not apply to the cases
to which this section applies.]