UNION OF INDIA Vs. K KARUPPUSAMY AND ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Union of India, owner of the Southern Railway represented by the General Manager of Southern Railway, Chennai, is the appellant in the present Civil Miscellaneous Appeal filed under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987.

(2.) A Claim was made by the respondents 1 and 2 herein being the parents of late K.Ravikumar, who according to them died on account of an untoward incident as defined in Section 123 (c)(ii) of the Railways Act. They had contended before the Tribunal that their son K.Ravikumar, who travelled in an unknown train on 12.01.2011 proceeding towards Katpadi Railway Station, fell down in a curve due to heavy crowd and due to the jerk and jolt of the train at Km 70/628 between Arakkonam and Melpakkam Railway Station.

(3.) The claim was resisted by the appellant on the basis of the averments found in their reply statement denying the allegations made in the claim application in general and contending that if at all he had fell down from the running train, there would have been a compliant lodged with the Station Master and/or a chain pulling by a co-passenger and that since there was no such chain pulling and no such complaint to the Station Master by a co-passenger, the accident alleged in the claim application could not be true. It was contended further that the deceased was not at all a bonafide passenger and the alleged accident in which he sustained the fatal injuries could not be termed an untoward incident within the meaning of Section 123(c) (ii) of the Railways Act. Based on the above said contentions, the appellant prayed for the dismissal of the application filed before the Railway Claims Tribunal, Chennai Bench in O.A.No.109 of 2012.