SHIV DEVI AGARWAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Smt. Shiv Devi Agarwal and Shri Ram Vilas Agarwal, who are the bereaved mother and father respectively of Shri Raju Agarwal deceased, have filed this complaint under Sec.12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (the 'act'), alleging therein that while in the course of his journey by train on 2.8.1999, from Kherli to Jaipur via Bandikui, the deceased was waiting at Platform No.1 of Railway Station, Bandikui for the arrival of Delhi-Jodhpur (Intercity) Express Train No.4859 at about 9.00 p. m. , he went to drink water at the hydrant (drinking water booth) at the Platform, that when he was drinking water at the hydrant, the foundation wall of the hydrant fell down causing the fall of the hydrant above and resulting in grievous head injury to the deceased, leading to his death instantaneously.

(2.) The complainants alleged negligence on the part of the respondent-Authorities of the Railway Administration in getting the walls of the hydrant constructed with inferior/sub-standard quality of raw material and in not maintaining the same in order to avoid the happening of any untoward incident/accident. The complainants thus alleged deficiency in service on the part of the respondent and claimed Rs.15,00,000/- as compensation for mental agony and expenses plus Rs.25,000/- towards cost of litigation.

(3.) Apart from challenging the jurisdiction of this Commission to entertain and decide the complaint on the grounds of absence of the relationship of "consumer" and "provider of service" between the deceased on the one hand and the respondent on the other and the bar created by Sections 13, 15 and 28 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 to the maintainability of such complaints before the Redressal Agencies under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 , the respondents claimed the complaint to be quite false and baseless against them. Their version of the case is that in order to provide drinking water facility to the railway passengers and others hydrant drinking water booths are constructed almost on all the platforms of Railway Stations according to the technically approved specifications using quality controlled raw material, that the hydrant drinking water booth in question was newly constructed at Platform No.1 of Bandikui Railway Station and the same had not yet been connected with water supply system and as such was not being used by the passenger - public and other persons for drinking water therefrom, that on the fateful day and time four or five passengers, including the unfortunate Raju deceased, made themselves seated on the lower part of the hydrant and since the supporting walls could not bear the weight of those persons, it fell down on the ground causing the projected portion of the hydrant to fall on the person seated below, that whereas other passengers were lucky enough to flee from the place of fall of the projected roof of the hydrant, the deceased was not so lucky and did sustain the fatal injury on his head. The respondents thus asserted that it was totally an unforeseen and unfortunate accident to which they were not contributorily negligent in any way and, therefore, not guilty of rendering negligent or deficient services to the deceased Raju, if at all a relationship of a consumer and provider of service be remotely found existing between them.