UNION OF INDIA Vs. DEVA SINGH AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CM 11855/2012 (for condonation of delay)

(2.) CHALLENGE by means of this first appeal under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 is to the impugned judgment dated 28.2.2012 which has allowed the claim petition filed by the respondent -appellant who is the dependent of the deceased Sh. Ajay. Sh. Ajay died in an untoward incident stated to have occurred on 15.3.2010. The deceased left behind his parents, his two minor daughters and a minor son. The wife of the deceased had already expired on 25.5.2008. The deceased Sh. Ajay, at that time, was running a Kirana shop at Gurgaon. The Railway Claims Tribunal has held that the deceased was a bona fide passenger in the train. The Railway Claims Tribunal further relied upon the evidence of cousin brother of the deceased one Sh. Amit who was also traveling in the same passenger train called TR train. Sh. Amit had deposed that he and deceased Ajay climbed on different compartments of the said train, however, the deceased Ajay fell down from the train. The Tribunal has given the following findings while allowing the claim petition:

(3.) I am not agreeable with the argument urged on behalf of the appellant inasmuch as nothing has been placed on record by the appellant as to why a person who is running a business, and has three minor children besides parents, would want to commit suicide. Also the court below has in fact considered the affidavit filed by RW -1 Sh. Phool Kuwar and observed that the statement of the Guard of suicide by the deceased under a goods train cannot be believed because the DRM in the present case has given a report dated 9.02.2011 that the deceased died by trying to get into a running train. Therefore, it is not even the case of the DRM of the Railways that the deceased Ajay committed suicide before a goods train. Thus, on one hand, the stand of the appellant -respondent was that the deceased died on account of fall from the over -crowded train, on the other hand the report of the DRM shows that he was trying to get into a running train i.e. it is not as if that as per the DRM, the deceased tried to commit suicide in front of goods train.