SAKHIA NAIK Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Claimants are the appellants before this Court challenging the judgment and order passed by the Railway claims Tribunal, Bhubaneswar in O.A. No. 6 of 1999 rejecting the claim for compensation.

(2.) Claimants are the legal heirs of deceased Pratap Naik. The case of the claimants is that on 12-4-1997 the deceased after purchasing tickets from Titilagarh Railway Station boarded the Puri-Ahmedabad Express train at Titilagarh Railway Station. The deceased was to go to Kantabanjhi with his daughter who is one of the claimants. While entering the train, it started moving and suddenly stopped with a jerk as a result of which the deceased fell down from the train. Before the deceased could save himself, the train started moving and the deceased got serious injuries and ultimately died in the hospital. The further case of the claimants is that the deceased was travelling in the general compartment and the tickets purchased by him for self and his daughter were lost. Claim application was filed treating the accidental fall of the deceased as an "untoward incident".

(3.) The respondent-Railways filed written statement stating that there was no "untoward incident" at Titilagarh on the date alleged. The Railways also denied the allegations made in the claim petition. The Tribunal, on pleadings of the parties, framed five issues and with reference to the oral and documentary evidence adduced before it, held that there was no material to show that the deceased was a bona fide passenger and therefore on the above ground alone, disallowed the claim.