DAGADU Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this appeal, filed under Sec. 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 (for short, "the Act of 1987"), the challenge is to the judgment and order dtd. 6/12/2019, passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Nagpur Bench, Nagpur, whereby the claim filed by the appellants came to be dismissed.

(2.) BACKGROUND FACTS: The appellants are the parents of the deceased Swapnil Patil. They claim that on 4/8/2016, the deceased, after attending his medical fitness examination at Nanded, had started his journey with his cousin to Jalgaon. At Manmad Railway Station, the deceased and his cousin Anil Patil boarded the Down Punjab Mail Train No.12137. According to the appellants, the deceased fell down from a running train between Km.342/6 and 342/8 in Tandalwadi Shivar of Railway Station Kajgaon. He sustained serious injuries and died. According to the appellants, the composite railway ticket purchased for the journey by the deceased and Anil Patil was with the deceased. The railway ticket was lost in the incident. The deceased was a bona fide passenger. The death was in an untoward incident, as understood by Sec. 123(c)(2) of the Railways Act, 1989 (for short, "the Act of 1989"). On these averments, the appellants claimed the compensation.

(3.) The respondent-Railway filed the written statement and contested the claim. It is the case of the Railway that the death was not in an untoward incident. The deceased might have fallen from the train due to his negligence. It is further contended that the journey ticket was not recovered either from the spot or from the pocket of the deceased. The deceased was not a bona fide passenger and, therefore, the claim was not maintainable.