Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has set aside an order of the Railway Claims Tribunal dismissing a family’s compensation claim over the death of a passenger who allegedly fell from a moving train. The court held that the claimants had established that he was travelling as a bona fide passenger and died in an accidental fall.Allowing an appeal filed by Deepak Kumar’s family, Justice Harkesh Manuja directed the Union of India to pay Rs 8 lakh compensation along with 9% annual interest from the date of filing the claim application until realisation.The appeal challenged the Dec 20, 2021, order of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, which had dismissed the family’s claim seeking Rs 10 lakh compensation following Deepak’s death on July 3, 2019.According to the claimants, Deepak had gone to Neelkanth Mahadev temple near Rishikesh with three companions. After having darshan, they reached Rishikesh railway station, where Deepak purchased a joint journey ticket for three persons, including himself, for travelling to Ambala Cantt.Around 9.15 pm, Deepak informed his wife over the telephone that they had boarded the Barmer Express and would reach home during the night. Due to heavy rush, they boarded different compartments. While the train was passing between Kesri and Barara stations, Deepak allegedly fell from it due to a sudden jerk and movement of passengers.The Railways contested the claim, arguing that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger because no ticket was recovered from his person and the ticket produced covered only three persons, whereas four were stated to be travelling. It also contended that the nature of the injuries and the location of the body indicated that he had been run over by a train.Rejecting the Tribunal’s reasoning, Justice Manuja observed, “The observation of the learned Tribunal that it did not appeal to reason that four persons travelling together would board different compartments is based on a mere conjecture.”The Bench noted that the ticket was produced before the GRP on July 4, 2019, immediately after the body was discovered and identified. The contemporaneous police record supported the claimants’ version and ruled out the possibility that the ticket was introduced as an afterthought.“The mere circumstance that one of the companions did not possess a ticket cannot be used to deny the claim of the deceased without establishing that the deceased himself was not a bona fide passenger,” the court stated.On the nature of the injuries, the high court observed that the post-mortem report recorded multiple grievous injuries, but the medical officer had not ruled out the possibility of a railway accident.“The expression ‘accidental falling’ does not contemplate a fall resulting only in minor or simple injuries. A person falling from a moving train may sustain grievous or crush injuries, particularly if the person comes into contact with the wheels or the railway track,” it observed.The court also pointed out that the Railways had not identified the train by which Deepak was allegedly run over, nor examined any loco pilot, guard or railway official to establish the same.“The absence of an eyewitness cannot be treated as fatal to a claim under Section 124-A of the 1989 Act, particularly when the claim is supported by the surrounding circumstances and the contemporaneous record,” the Bench stated.The court directed the Railways to deposit the amount within two months. In case of failure to deposit the amount within the stipulated period of three months, interest at 12% per annum would be payable from the expiry of the said period till realisation.
