BABU NATH SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS first appeal is filed under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 impugning the judgment of the Tribunal dated 16.12.2011 by which the claim petition filed by the appellants seeking statutory compensation of Rs.4 lacs has been dismissed.

(2.) THE case as pleaded by the appellants was that Sh. Krishan Kumar Singh, son of the appellant no.1, was travelling on 1.10.2008 from New Delhi to Chhapra (Bihar) by the Lichhawi Express on journey ticket no.Y3606166. It is pleaded that when the train reached Sahibabad railway station, Sh. Krishan Kumar Singh fell down from the running train due to jerk of the train and thrust from the passengers. Sh. Krishan Kumar Singh is stated to have died as a result of the injuries sustained on account of falling down from the train. I may note, at this stage, that Sahibabad is part of Ghaziabad and is situated right at the eastern border of Delhi and therefore the case of the appellant is that immediately after the journey commenced at Delhi the deceased fell down soon thereafter near the Sahibabad railway station at the border of Delhi.

(3.) I completely agree with the aforesaid conclusions of the Tribunal because two ingredients are required to be established before the Tribunal for a claim petition to be successful. The first is that the deceased must be a bonafide passenger and secondly that falling from the train has to be established. In the present case, the ticket filed by the appellants has been rightly disbelieved because the ticket is only of one person whereas as per the own case of the appellants, two persons were travelling by the train being the deceased Sh. Krishan Kumar Singh and his mother Smt. Radhika Devi. Also, there is no proof of a fall from the train i.e that a train journey was undertaken, and which aspect is rightly held against the appellants because the journey by train of Sh. Krishan Kumar Singh is not proved. I would like to give an additional reason and which in my opinion is that it is very strange that Smt. Radhika Devi, the mother who was alleged to be travelling with the deceased Sh. Krishan Kumar Singh not only has not been said to have made any efforts to locate her son, but also that she probably has proceeded to her residence right till Chhapra in Bihar although her son who was travelling with her did not reach with her at the train destination at Chhapra in Bihar. In my opinion, it is clear that the claim petition is a fraudulent petition because neither was there any train travel and nor did the deceased Sh. Krishan Kumar Singh fall from the train. The ticket filed is actually a procured ticket and the facts and circumstances show that there is absolutely no 'untoward incident' as per the meaning of the expression as found in Section 123(c) and Section 124 -A of the Railways Act, 1989.