AN application by state-owned Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd to be removed from a workmen’s compensation claim filed by the widow of one of the divers killed in the 2022 Paria tragedy was dismissed by the High Court on November 18.

High Court Master Wrenerson Lochan ruled that a request by Land and Marine Contracting Services Ltd (LMCS) to add Paria as a party to the claim was proper. He held that serious issues remained to be tried between LMCS – the divers’ employer – and Paria, making Paria’s inclusion necessary. Lochan said he would next hear submissions on whether the proceedings should be stayed and whether LMCS’s insurer should be joined.

Lochan also ordered Paria to pay LMCS’s legal costs for the application, which arose out of the claim filed by Celisha Kurban, widow of diver Fyzal Kurban.