The court established that minor discrepancies in documentation do not negate a claim for compensation under the Railways Act when substantial evidence supports the claim of an untoward incident.

JUDGMENT :

(Sunil Dutta Mishra, J.)

1. Heard learned counsel for the appellant as well as the learned counsel for the respondent.

2. This Miscellaneous Appeal has been filed under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as “Act of 1987”) on behalf of the appellant against the judgment dated 29.06.2016 passed by the learned Member (Judicial), Railway Claims Tribunal, Patna (hereinafter referred to as the “Learned Tribunal”), in Claim Application No. OA 00255 of 2012, whereby the claim application of the applicant for payment of compensation has been rejected.

3. The brief facts of the case is that the deceased Sanjay Kumar was having journey-cum-reservation ticket for commencement of journey on 19.07.2012 from Anugrah Narayan Road Railway Station to Howrah Junction. The deceased alongwith his wife who is the applicant, his minor children and elder sister of his wife came at Anugrah Narayan Road Railway Station at the schedule time of departure of the train, namely, Dehradoon- Howrah Express being Train No.13010 D. Since, the reservation ticket was not confirmed, the deceased made his mind to travel in general compartment which was over crowded as usual. The wife of the deceased with her children and sister boarded the train any how and the train started moving with sudden heavy jolt. The deceased who was boarding the train lost his balance and accidentally fell down from the moving train which resulted into his death on the spot due to the injuries sustained in the said untoward incident. The applicant along with her sister raised alarm and some passengers have pulled the chain, however, the train did not stop. The applicant and her sister got down from the train and managed to reach at the place of occurrence of the untoward incident. The applicant informed the family members about the said incident but before reaching there a memo had already been issued at 21:40 hours on 19.07.2012 by S.M. on duty at Anugrah Narayan Road Railway Station against the death of an unknown passenger. However, subsequently the deceased was identified by them and thereafter inquest report was prepared on the next date i.e., 20.07.2012 as the incident took place in the night. On the basis of memo, U.D. Case No.30 of 2012 has been registered with Sonenagar GRPS, who after due inquiry submitted the final report stating that the case is of accidental death due to fall from the train.

4. The deceased had died leaving behind his wife who is applicant alongwith minor son, daughter and also his widow mother who are surviving dependents of the deceased. The father of the deceased predeceased him. The applicant filed claim petition bearing Claim Application No. OA 00255 of 2012 and claimed compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- alongwith 12% interest from the date of filing of claim petition till its realization.

5. On notice, the respondent-Union of India through General Manager, East Central Railway, Hajipur appeared and contested the same by filing the written statement. It is stated in the written statement that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger of the train and the applicant has no cause of action to file the case against the respondent. The Union of India has denied the claim of applicant and stated that the applicant may be put to strict proof by documentary evidence and eye witnesses and prove her claim. It is further stated that the alleged injury is not under the ambit of Section 123 (c) of the Railways Act, 1989 and the claim is barred by the principle of estoppel, waivers and acquiescence.

6. The applicant has supported her case by filing the affidavit in evidence and stated that the said untoward incident occurred on 19.07.2012 at Anugrah Narayan Road Railway Station while boarding the train. She further stated that as the said reservation ticket was a waiting ticket and the same was not confirmed, as such, the deceased has made up his mind to travel in general compartment and while the deceased was boarding the tr