NIRMAL JEET KAUR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal arises out of an order dated 05.06.2009 passed by the Ld. Railways Claim Tribunal, whereby the Ld. Tribunal dismissed the condonation of delay application filed by the appellant after two years under Railway Claim Tribunal Act. 1987.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated the facts of the case are; that the husband of the appellant who was the only bread winner in the family died an untimely and accidental death on 25.11.2006. This completely devastated the life of appellant and her two children and took appellant a while to get back to her normal self. Further, appellant being a housewife and having no occasion to deal with the outside world, procuring documents for her from (1) police (ii) Lady Hardinge Medical College and Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi (iii) New Delhi Municipal Council (iv) Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSCMC). This has taken a lot of time. According to the appellant procurement of certificates from DSCMC indicating occupation of her late husband and name and addresses of the employer got delayed as the formalities/ dues had to be cleared. Further the delay was also caused because appellant had tough time finding some work to keep the body and soul of hers and her family together. Moreso, most of the time, the social pressures and traditions kept her house bound.

(3.) I have heard the parties and would like to observe that it has been held in number of judgments of Apex Court and High Court that delay should be condoned with a view to do substantial justice and since our country is socialist, democratic republic and the Railways Act is social welfare legislation insofar as it enables grant of compensation, it becomes necessary that the courts while deciding such cases should always adopt a liberal approach. In this regard, I would like to quote a paragraph of the judgment delivered by the Apex Court in the case of N. Balakrishnan Vs M. Krishnamurthy (1998) 7 SCC 223, wherein it has been held that:-