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Section 42: Dependants' benefit

The Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act No. 36 of 2020) • Official Statutory Text & Plain English Practice Guide

Statutory Mandate
Chapter IV: Employees' State Insurance Corporation
Competent Labour Forum
Act No. 36 of 2020
Section 41 All 163 Sections of Code on Social Security, 2020 Section 43

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 42

Section 42 of the Code on Social Security, 2020 regulates the payment of dependants' benefit under the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) scheme, providing periodic pensionary payments to surviving dependants of an insured person who dies as a result of an employment injury or occupational disease.

  • Statutory Survivor Pension Architecture: Guarantees life-long periodic pension disbursements to the widow/widower and minor legitimate children of an insured worker who suffers fatal employment trauma.
  • Rigorous Demarcation of Statutory Dependants: Categorizes eligible dependants into primary beneficiaries (widow, legitimate minor sons and unmarried daughters) and secondary dependants (wholly or partially dependent parents, grandparents) in the absence of primary claimants.
  • Statutory Proportion & Apportionment Rules: Mandates the distribution of daily benefit rates among multiple eligible dependants according to statutory ratios prescribed by the Corporation, preventing inter-family deprivation.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Royal Western India Turf Club v. E.S.I.C. (2016) 4 SCC 521: Supreme Court affirmed that ESI benefits are constitutional social security entitlements under Article 39 and 41, mandating a liberal, beneficial construction in favor of workers and their surviving dependants.
  • Regional Director, E.S.I.C. v. Francis De Costa (1996) 6 SCC 1: Three-Judge Bench laid down the nexus test: for dependants' benefit to accrue, the fatal injury must arise 'out of' and 'in the course of' employment, establishing a causal connection between the work and the fatal event.
  • Transport Corporation of India v. ESI Corp. (2000) 1 SCC 332: Affirmed that dependants' benefits must be disbursed promptly without technical evidentiary delays once the employment nexus is established.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In dependants' benefit claims before the EI Court, secure the statutory Form 16 accident report from the employer and the post-mortem report immediately. Establish the temporal and spatial nexus to employment to counter ESIC denials based on off-duty allegations.

Section 41 All 163 Sections of Code on Social Security, 2020 Section 43