Supreme Court Rejects Plea of a Seaman for Disability Compensation on Account of Heart Ailment

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea by a retired seaman seeking disability compensation on account of a heart ailment (Nawal Kishore vs Union of India). A judgement of the Patna High Court was upheld in this regard by the three-judge Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy.

The plea put forward before the court was of a person who was found to be suffering from 'Dilated Cardiomyopathy' and was permanently ruled unfit for sea service. The question before the Court was whether, under clause 21 of the National Maritime Board (NMB) Agreement, the petitioner was entitled to benefit of disability compensation.

The work of the petitioner included engine cleaning, plate cleaning, filing of chemicals and acid in pipelines etc. which are dangerous to health. The petitioner had complained of abdominal pain, swelling in his right leg, and breathing problems for which he had been sent to Mumbai for treatment. He was later diagnosed with a heart ailment. Other illnesses, including depression, 46 percent hearing loss and 40 percent vision loss, also impaired the applicant. Under Clause 21 of the NMB Agreement, he then sought 'Disability Compensation' but was given 'Severance Compensation' as provided for in Clause 25 of the NMB Agreement, which he declined to accept.

The High Court judgment under challenge had opined that petitioner was medically unfit for sea service though he was not medically unfit for other services. The High Court found that the petitioner got inflicted by ‘Dilated Cardiomyopathy’ during the course of employment which is an occupational disease for seafarers.

The petitioner argued that ‘Dilated Cardiomyopathy’ is nothing but an internal injury to heart by which it cannot pump blood effectively due to enlargement. He further argued that the internal injury, in this case, was attributable to the seafarer's traumatic working environment.