(1) The case of any insured person for permanent disablement benefit shall be referred by the Corporation to a medical board for determination of the disablement question and if, on that or any subsequent reference, the extent of loss of earning capacity of the insured person is provisionally assessed, it shall again be so referred to the medical board not later than the end of the period taken into account by the provisional assessment.
(2) If the insured person or the Corporation is not satisfied with the decision of the medical board, the insured person or the Corporation may appeal in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time to—
(i) the medical appeal tribunal constituted in accordance with the provisions of the regulations with a further right of appeal in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time to the Employees’ Insurance Court, or
(ii) the Employees’ Insurance Court directly:]
3[Provided that no appeal by an insured person shall lie under this sub-section if such person has applied for commutation of disablement benefit on the basis of the decision of the medical board and received the commuted value of such benefit:
Provided further that no appeal by the Corporation shall lie under this sub-section if the Corporation paid the commuted value of the disablement benefit on the basis of the decision of the medical board.]
1. Subs. by Act 44 of 1966, s. 25, for section 53 (w.e.f. 28-1-1968).
2. Subs. by s. 26, ibid., for section 54 (w.e.f 28-1-1968).
3. Ins. by Act 29 of 1989, s. 22 (w.e.f. 20-10-1989).
29 1[55. Review of decisions by medical board or medical appeal tribunal.—(1) Any decision under this Act of a medical board or a medical appeal tribunal may be reviewed at any time by the medical board or the medical appeal tribunal, as the case may be, if it is satisfied by fresh evidence that the decision was given in consequence of the non-disclosure or misrepresentation by the employee or any other person of a material fact (whether the non-disclosure or misrepresentation was or was not fraudulent).
(2) Any assessment of the extent of the disablement resulting from the relevant employment injury may also be reviewed by a medical board, if it is satisified that since the making of the assessment there has been a substantial and unforeseen aggravation of the results of the relevant injury:
Provided that an assessment shall not be reviewed under this sub-section unless the medical board is of opinion that having regard to the period taken into account by the assessment and the probable duration of the aggravation aforesaid, substantial injustice will be done by not reviewing it.
(3) Except with the leave of a medical appeal tribunal, an assessment shall not be reviewed under sub-section (2) on any application made less than five years, or in the case of a provisional assessment, six months, from the date thereof and on such a review the period to be taken into account by any revised assessment shall not include any period before the date of the application.
(4) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, a medical board day deal with a case of review in any manner in which it could deal with it on an original reference to it, and in particular may make a provisional assessment notwithstanding that the assessment under review was final; and the provisions of section 54A shall apply to an application for review under this section and to a decision of a medical board in connection with such application as they apply to a case for disablement benefit under that section and to a decision of the medical board in connection with such case.