UNION OF INDIA Vs. SANJHALI MURMUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant is aggrieved by the judgment and decree dated 12.3.2008 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal 1, Patna directing the respondent General Manager, North Frontier Railways, to pay a sum of Rs. 4,000,000/- to the respondents Sanjhali Murmur and her husband Munshi Hansda being dependent of the deceased. THE Claims Tribunal after holding that the son of the claimant was a bona fide passenger who had died in an untoward incident on account of having thrown off from the train when there was a heavy rush awarded a sum of Rs. 4,00000/- as compensation to his parents.

(2.) THE appellants contends that in fact the deceased was not a bona fide passenger since the number of the tickets are at variance with the one produced before the tribunal and in fact the deceased had died on account of self-inflicted injury and, therefore, the Railways was not bound to compensate the claimants. THE learned counsel for the appellant further contends that exhibit-A which is the guard memo clearly dislodges the case of the claimants that it was an untoward incident, in as much as, it has noted that the deceased had fallen down from the train. Further submission is that out of the four witnesses examined one was not cross-examined and rest three given contradictory statements with regard to the vital information regarding the identity of the deceased.