In Brief
An engineer employed by a manufacturing company died in a road accident while returning to Delhi from a field work assignment at a client's factory in Haryana. The employee had been instructed by his employer to travel to the factory to test and oversee an installed product. The Commissioner and High Court had dismissed the compensation claim, finding the accident did not arise out of employment. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that since the nature of the employee's sales and installation work required his presence at the remote location, the return journey was incidental to employment. The accident thus arose out of and in the course of employment under the Employees' Compensation Act, 1923. The matter was remanded to the Commissioner to decide remaining issues.
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