This is an appeal against the order of the Claims Commissioner, Southern Railway, Madurai, dismissing the application of the appellant for compensation for the death of her husband under section 82-A of the Indian Railways Act. Periyasamy, the deceased, was earning his living as a porter at Danushkodi. He went to Ramashwaram Road to purchase provisions and firewood, and with a view to return to Danushkodi, he boarded the train No. 653 Pamban-Danushkodi Passenger- in the night of 22/23rd December, 1964 and was washed away along with the train by tidal waves near Danushkodi. Rajammal, the appellant, who is the widow of Periyaswamy, filed an application claiming compensation on the basis that her husband was earning Rs. 5 or 6 per day as a porter. But the Claims Commissioner dismissed the petition on the ground that Periyaswamy was not travelling in the ill-fated train as a bona fide passenger.

The word ‘passenge ‘ has not been defined in the Act. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a passenger is a traveller in a public conveyance by land or water. Section 66 of the Indian Railways Act prescribes that

“ every person desirous of travelling on a railway shall, upon payment of