The Jharkhand High Court has awarded Rs 8 Lakh along with interest as compensation to the widow of a man who died in 2017 after accidentally falling from a moving train, overturning a decision by the Railway Claims Tribunal, which had dismissed her claim. was pushed aside.

In doing so, the High Court ruled that the deceased was a bona fide passenger despite the absence of a ticket during the inquest.

A single judge is present during the pronouncement of the judgment Justice Subhash Chand observed, “As such, this fact is well established that the deceased was a bona fide passenger. Even if the ticket was not recovered from him during the preparation of the inquest report of the deceased. The mere filing of the affidavit on behalf of the plaintiff (appellant’s wife) is sufficient to create a presumption that the deceased was a bona fide passenger. Neither oral nor written evidence was adduced on behalf of the defendant to show that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger. Now that the initial burden on behalf of the appellants has been discharged, the burden of proof shifts to the respondent to prove the fact that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger.

The judgment came in a miscellaneous appeal filed by the appellant’s wife against the Railway Claims Tribunal, where Ranchi Bench had rejected her claim for compensation. The Tribunal in its 2019 order had held that the deceased, Shambhu Sahni, was not a bonafide passenger and the incident was not an ‘adverse incident’ under Section 123(c)(2) of the Railway Act, 1989.

The appellant’s wife filed the claim petition under the Railway Claims Tribunal Act under which Sahni had boarded the Howrah-Gaya Express at Sahibganj Junction on June 7, 2017 with a valid second class ticket purchased by his brother for a journey to Pirpainti Station . As the train approached Pirpainti, the deceased walked to the door of the train to alight. As a crowd of passengers gathered at the door, there was heavy jostling, causing Sahni to lose his balance and accidentally fall from the moving train between Ammapali Halt and Pirpainti Station. He suffered fatal injuries and died on the spot.

After being informed about the incident, the woman and family members identified the body of Shambhu Sahni. The local railway police registered a case of unnatural death (UD); After the autopsy, the body was handed over to the family and cremated. She stated in her affidavit that her late husband’s valid ticket was lost during the untoward incident.

The Court in its judgment noted that though the written statement of the defendant alleged that the deceased had died while crossing the railway line, the evidence given by the Railways showed that the untoward incident took place when the deceased alighted from a moving train between Sahebganj and Pirpainti fell. Station.

The Court noted: “The evidence adduced on behalf of the respondent does not rebut the presumption as to bona fide passengers raised in favor of the appellants.”

The Court further observed that based on the investigation conducted by the Investigating Officer in the UD case, the untoward incident took place when the deceased fell from the moving train. The court found that the plaintiff wife had met the burden of proof by filing an affidavit alleging that the deceased had purchased a ticket and was traveling as a bona fide passenger. The affidavit stated that the deceased fell from the train due to the jostling of other passengers at the gate when they tried to alight.

The Court concluded, “The presumption in favor of the appellants regarding the fact that they are the bona fide passengers will be raised. On behalf of the defendant, the burden of proof shifted to him has not been refuted, nor has the presumption that he is a bona fide passenger by not providing convincing evidence.”

The court further ruled that the plaintiffs were entitled to damages of €15. 8 lakhs, along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition to the date of the order, and 6% per annum from the date of the order to the actual payment.

Referring to the applicable rules, the Court notes: “in view of Notification No. GSR 1165(E) dated 22nd December, 2016 with effect from 1st January, 2017, Rule 3(2) of the Railway Accidents and Adverse Incidents (Compensation) Rules, 1990, the words “rupees four lakh ” replaced by the words “rupees eight lakh”.

The Court added: “Since this untoward incident took place on June 7, 2017, subsequent to the enforcement of Notification No. GSR 1165(E), the plaintiffs are entitled to compensation of Rs. 8 lakhs along with interest as specified.”

Based on its analysis of the evidence on record, the Court allowed the appeal quashing the judgment of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Ranchi Bench.

Case Title: Kavita Devi @ Kabbo Devi and Ors vs Union of India

LL citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 158

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