LATESH & ORS. Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal against the order dated 29th July, 2011 by virtue of which the claim petition of the appellants, under Section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Act 1987 for grant of compensation to the extent of Rs. 8 Lakhs was dismissed. Briefly stated the facts of the case are that a claim petition came to be filed by the appellants, who were the legal heirs of the deceased, Prabhu Dayal. It was alleged, in the claim petition, that on 12.07.2009, after purchasing a railway ticket from Palwal Railway Station, Prabhu Dayal boarded the EMU train No. SNP -3 for going to New Delhi and since there was a heavy rush in the compartment of the train, he was standing inside the gate of the compartment. It was alleged that when the train reached New Delhi railway station, there was a sudden jolt/jerk in the train and due to that jerk he lost his balance and fell down accidentally on the track, suffered injuries and was run over by the train, which resulted in his death. Accordingly, it was averred that since Prabhu Dayal was a bona fide passenger and was killed in a railway accident, his family was entitled to compensation.

(2.) IT was denied by the respondents that Prabhu Dayal was a bona fide passenger or that he had accidentally fallen from the train. It was alleged that the accident took place because of the negligence and the carelessness of the deceased himself as he was unauthorizedly breaching the railway track. On the pleadings of the parties, the following issues were framed:

(3.) AFTER the parties were permitted to adduce evidence or prove the documents, the Railway Claims Tribunal arrived at a definite finding that neither the deceased was a bona fide passenger nor was it proved that he had fallen from the train in consequence of which he had died. The reasons for this are given by the Tribunal in the following words: