Hyderabad: Telangana high court has set aside Workmen’s Compensation Commission’s order directing a vehicle financier to pay Rs 4.7 lakh as compensation to an injured truck driver, ruling that a financier cannot be treated as the driver’s principal employer.
Challenging the order, Dharewa told high court that he had no employer-employee relationship with Wahid. The driver himself had stated that he worked for the vehicle owner, while transport records continued to show the owner as the registered holder of the truck. He also relied on a Kerala high court ruling to contend that a financier remains the owner until all instalments are paid. High court rejected the argument, holding that a financier merely provides capital and does not ordinarily manage, control or run the business or pay the driver’s wages. Relying on Supreme Court precedents, the court held that a financier is not ordinarily treated as the owner or principal employer under a hire purchase agreement and quashed the commission’s order.