DAMODARAN NAIR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been preferred under Sec. 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 against the order dtd. 31/8/2018 in O.A.(llu) ERS/0012/2018 on the file of Railway Claims Tribunal, Ernakulam Bench, dismissing the above application.

(2.) The appellants are the parents of deceased Ullas V.Nair, who allegedly died in an untoward incident by falling from a moving train. According to the appellants, the deceased Ullas was working as a Supervisor in a hotel. On 4/4/2017 he was travelling from Kollam to Goa in Veravel Express. At about 4.00 a.m. when the train reached near Kannapuram railway station, he fell down from the train and sustained injuries and succumbed to the injuries. On the ground that he had died in an untoward incident, the appellants approached the Railway Claims Tribunal, Ernakulam claiming compensation. The Tribunal dismissed the application on the ground that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger mainly on the ground that journey ticket was not recovered from the deceased. Aggrieved by the above order, they preferred this appeal raising various contentions.

(3.) According to the learned counsel for the appellants, failure to produce the journey ticket alone cannot be considered as a ground to hold that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger. The learned counsel would argue that there was some time gap between the incident and the time when the police party found out the victim and in the meantime, somebody had searched the pockets of the pants of the deceased and at that time, the ticket might have been lost. Therefore, according to the learned counsel for the appellants, this is a clear case of untoward incident and as such, the appellants are entitled to get the compensation as per the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules, 1990.