JUDGMENT

1. The present appeal has been filed under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 against the judgment dated 15.11.2019 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Principal Bench, Delhi (hereinafter the “Tribunal”) in Claim Application No. OA II(u) No. 56/2016.

2. Vide the impugned judgment, the Tribunal dismissed the claim application filed by the appellants herein on the ground that the deceased was neither a bona fide passenger nor did the alleged incident qualify as an “untoward incident” as defined under the Railways Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”).

3. The brief facts of the case, as set out in the claim application, are that on 27.11.2015, one Sh. Ankush Kumar (hereinafter referred to as the “deceased”) was travelling from Saharanpur to Shamli by Train no. 14546 (DN Express) on the strength of a second-class journey ticket. It was the case of the appellants that upon the train reaching near Shamli Railway Station, due to heavy rush and jostling inside the compartment, the deceased accidentally fell from the running train and sustained grievous injuries, to which he succumbed.

4. Learned counsel for the appellants assailed the impugned judgme