MOKSHADA SUNDARI GHOSE Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On March 3, 1953 at 6-38 A. M. a man of about sixty trying to cross the railway tracks running along the eastern side of Barrackpore Station was knocked down by a passing engine and died instantaneously as a result of the shock. The deceased, Haramohan Ghose, who held a monthly railway ticket, was coming to renew it at Barrackpore Station from his village Dhaniapara which was to the northeast of the railway station. He came along a road that leads up to the railway lines to the east of Barrackpore Station and was trying to walk across the lines to reach the station when the accident took place. Struck by the right side bumper of the engine he fell on the gangway between two quad lines and died on the spot. His widow brought the instant suit claiming a decree for Rupees 15,000/- as damages for the death of her husband. The Court below dismissed the suit and aggrieved by the decision she has preferred this appeal. She was allowed to sue and also to prosecute this appeal in forma pauperis.

(2.) In the plaint it is claimed that the people of Dhaniapara and the neighbouring villages are compelled to cross the railway lines on foot, there being no over-bridge to the railway platform at the point where the village road ends. The plaintiff alleges that the engine that struck down her husband came with "tremendous speed and without whistling" and attributes the accident to gross negligence and wilful default on the part of the driver of the engine. It is pointed out by the defendant Union of India in their written statement that though there was no over-bridge, there was a level crossing about 80 yards south of the station platform providing for safe passage across the railway lines. According to the defendant, Haramohan Ghose was a trespasser on the defendants' property, "user of any other path across the railway lines" than through the level crossing being unauthorised and that by trying to cross the lines he had exposed himself to the risk of accident. It is denied in the written statement that the engine came upon the victim with "tremendous speed" or without whistling.

(3.) It can hardly be disputed that Haramohan Ghose walking across the lines was a trespasser on the railway property. The fact that he held a monthly railway ticket which, it is said, he was going to renew, does not alter the position; though he had a right to renew the ticket he had no right to be on the railway lines. The witnesses for the plaintiff speak of the distance of the level crossing possibly seeking to provide some justification for the people of the villages on the north-eastern side of the railway lines who used to cross over to the railway station in the way Haramohan was trying to do. Apart from whether this would make any difference in the position, the evidence of these witnesses on this aspect seems to be entirely besides the point. According to P. W. 1 Arabinda Shome, the level crossing, referred to by the defendant, is about 3 or 4 miles away from Dhaniapara and the neighbouring villages. P. W. 2 Daguram Ghose states that the level crossing is about a mile and half away from the villages. The distance of the level crossing from the villages, however, is a matter wholly irrelevant in the present context. D. W. 2 Harendra Kumar Dutta, who was the Station-master of Barrackpore Station at the relevant time, states that the level crossing is less than 100 yards from the station platform. Ext. 4 is a map of Barrackpore Railway Station showing the site of occurrence and the surroundings, drawn to a scale of 80" to a mile; this sketch supports the evidence of D. W. 2 and the statement made in the written statement regarding the distance of the level crossing. Thus it is clear that from the point where the village road meets the railway lines, the distance of the level crossing is quite short.