JUDGMENT :

The Union of India has appealed under Section 23 of the Railways Claims Tribunal Act, 1987[for short “the Act”] from a judgment of the Tribunal dated 15.03.2019, awarding compensation to the dependents of the victim of a railway accident.

2. The claimant-respondents Dinesh Kumar and Smt. Prem Lata instituted a claim under Section 16 of the Act against the Union of India, represented by the General Manager, North Central Railway, Allahabad seeking compensation for the death of their son, Laxmikant in a railway accident on 25.02.2012. It is the claimant-respondents' case that the deceased was travelling from Satna to Varanasi on 25.02.2012 on board the Tapti Ganga Express. As the train was moving between the Meja Road and Unchadih Railway Stations, the deceased accidentally fell off the train, sustaining grievous injuries. He succumbed to those injuries. It is the claimants' case that the deceased was travelling on a second class railway ticket from Satna to Varanasi, that was lost from his person, in the course of the accident.

3. The appellants contested the claim, denying the fact that the deceased was a bona fide passenger on board train on the date of the incident or tha