SUSHILA SHARMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal impugns an order dated 28.04.2014 dismissing the appellant's claim for compensation of Rs. 8 lacs along with the interest thereon.

(2.) The claim was that on 09.09.2010, the deceased Anil, while travelling from Delhi to Gurgaon by an EMU train, accidently fell down from the crowded compartment of the running train and died on the spot. The Railways contested the claim. The following issues were framed:-

(3.) On the basis of the police report, the claimant widow of the deceased, had supported her case only by her affidavit, as no known person had accompanied the deceased on the tragic day. However, according to the police and railway records, it was revealed that the mutilated body of an unidentified male aged 35-36 years was found by the railway gateman at location Km 29.03-04 between Gurgaon and Bijwasan stations at 22.10 hours on 09.09.2010. The mangled/mutilated body was lying on the Down Line but the hand and the foot were found strewn on both sides of the track, at a distance of 15-20 feet away from the body. The body remained 'unknown' at the time of autopsy on 10.09.2010 at 12.50 hrs and was cremated by the police on 13.09.2010. The police reports of GRPS Gurgaon confirm that the relatives of the unknown deceased, including his wife Smt. Sushila, identified the deceased as Anil from the photographs at GRPS Gurgaon on 17.09.2010. So, the statement of the applicant to the Tribunal on 18.09.2012, that she received the news regarding her husband's death by accident from his employer, three days after the incident is quite doubtful, if not entirely untrue. Her own statement to GRPS Gurgaon confirms that she came to know about the death of the deceased only on 17.09.2010 i.e. eight days after his body was recovered near the track.