AJOY RAUT Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS first appeal is at the instance of a claimant under Section 16 of the railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 and is directed against an award dated 20th february, 2008 passed by the Vice-Chairman, Railway Claims Tribunal, Kolkata bench, thereby rejecting the said application.

(2.) BEING dissatisfied, the claimant has come up with the present appeal.

(3.) RAILWAY Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 thereby claiming a sum of Rs. 4,00,000/- as compensation for the death of his son, late Kartik Rout, on the allegation that on 7th April, 2005 the said Kartik, a student of class-VIII of Amar Bharti High School, was travelling from Konnagar to Howrah by Down Katwa Local train with a valid second class ticket to appear at the final examination of the school along with his classmate, namely, Ranjit Prasad, son of Shri Shiv Prasad of 185/314, Rajiv Gandhi Road, Konnagar, but before reaching Howrah railway station, the said Kartik accidentally fell down from the running train and succumbed to his injuries. The claim was opposed by the railway authority by filing written statement thereby denying the material allegations made in the application. According to the railway authority, no specific time of incident or no specific reason for falling down from the running train had been described in the clause No. 6 of the application. It was further pointed out that the report of GRP, Howrah, indicated that one unknown injured male person aged about 18 years was recovered from Down Katwa Local train at platform No. 2 and was declared dead by the Senior D. M. P. , Howrah. Therefore, according to the railway authority, the case was not one of falling down from train and the incident did not come within the meaning of "untoward incident" and as such, the railway administration was not liable to pay any compensation for the alleged accident. classmate of the deceased and the eyewitness to the incident, gave evidence in support of the claim but no person came forward to depose on behalf of the railway authority.