PRAHLAD 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 10.10.2011 which has dismissed the claim petition filed by the appellants, who are the parents of the deceased Prabhat @ Parul.

(2.) THE facts of the case as pleaded by the appellants are that their son Prabhat was travelling from Agra Cantt to Hazrat Nizamuddin by train no. 8237 Bilaspur -Chhattisgarh Express. It was further the case of the appellants that during the course of the journey in between Raja Ki Mandi and Bad, near Farrah railway station, the deceased Prabhat fell down from the moving train due to sudden jerk and jolt of the train. The case of the incident is between Agra from where the journey commenced and Mathura, which is the next major station. The deceased Prabhat as a result of the injuries caused on account of the incident of fall from the train died on the spot. It was the case of the appellants that a ticket for travel was purchased by the appellant no.1/father for his son Prabhat at the Agra Cantt station and this ticket was put in a bag along with other papers of Prabhat, who was a student aged 16 years. The bag is stated to have been lost in the incident.

(3.) THE Tribunal has dismissed the claim petition by holding that since the ticket has not been recovered, the deceased was not a bonafide passenger. The Tribunal has observed in this regard in para 6.3 of the impugned judgment that the ticket was kept by the deceased Prabhat in his bag along with other papers and, therefore, there was no reason why the ticket could not have been recovered from the person of the deceased. The Tribunal has also held that there is no proof of the fact that the incident was an incident of fall from the train.