UNION OF INDIA Vs. DHARAMPAL SHARMA AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Assailing the award dated 13.05.2014 passed by Railway Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, Chandigarh (for short, "the Tribunal") awarding compensation to the tune of Rs.4,00,000.00 to the respondents claimants in claim Case No.OA-IIU/2013/0073, the appellant-Union of India, through General Manager, Northern Railway, New Delhi preferred this appeal.

(2.) Precisely, the facts are that in the claim petition filed by the claimants-respondents they averred that on 04.11.2012 their son Rakesh Sharma (since deceased) was coming from Dhariwal to Amritsar by means of a train. He purchased the ticket from the railway station. As he was about to board the train, the train started moving, he fell down and suffered serious injuries. Some persons informed the Station master about the incident. The Station master issued memo to G.R.P., Batala and reached at the spot. The injured was taken to General Hospital, Batala for treatment from where he was referred to Hargun Hospital, Amritsar, but at the said hospital he was declared brought dead. Nothing was recovered during personal search of the deceased because his body had been crushed and his clothes had torn into pieces. His travelling ticket got lost during the accident.

(3.) The petition was contested by the appellant-railways. The appellant denied that the deceased was a bona fide passenger or that the incident during which he died was an 'untoward incident' within the provisions of Section 123(c) of the Act, 1989. It was also submitted that as per the report of Divisional Railway Manager, no person had witnessed the deceased falling from the train while trying to board the same. Even the train guard or the driver of the train had no information about the incident.