IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI M. A. No. 289 of 2022

1. Md. Alamgir, father of the deceased Md. Aadil

2. Yasmin Khatoon, mother of the deceased Md. Aadil, both are R/o Village/Mohalla-Tetariya, P.O.-Tetariya, P.S.-Meskor, Dist.-Nawada .... …. Appellants Versus Union of India, through the General Manager, South Eastern Railway, 3 Koilaghat Street, P.O. & P.S.-Garden Reach, Kolkata, West Bengal .... .... Respondent -----

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE GAUTAM KUMAR CHOUDHARY -----

For the Appellants : Mr. Rajesh Kr. Jha, Advocate For Respondent-U.O.I. : Mr. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Sr. C.G.C.

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Oral Order

06 / Dated : 09.12.2025

1. The claimants are in appeal under Section 23(1) of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 against the judgment dated 27.09.2022 passed by Railway Claims Tribunal, Ranchi in Case No. OA (IIU)/RNC/19/2020, whereby and whereunder, the claim application for compensation on account of death of Md. Aadil has been dismissed.

2. As per the case of the claimants, on 08.06.2019 Md. Aadil commenced his railway journey by train No. 12814 Steel Express from Tatanagar to Howrah after purchasing general journey ticket from Tatanagar Station counter in presence of his relatives Mushtakim @ Bablu, Safik @ Samir and others. It is further case of the claimants that Md. Aadil had fallen down from the running train due to overcrowding in which he sustained fatal injuries and died because of it. The ticket of the deceased was lost.

3. The G.R.P, Tatanagar lodged U.D. Case No. 28/2019 on 09.06.2019 and after enquiry, final report was submitted stating that the deceased died due to an accidental fall from the train.

4. As per the case of the Railways before the Tribunal, the averment regarding the accidental death was denied and it was claimed that the deceased was not a bonafide passenger.

5. The following documents were adduced into evidence:

Ext. A1 — FIR Ext. A2 — Application of one Md. Alamgir to Railway Thana In-charge Ext. A3 — Inquest Report Ext. A4 — Final Report Ext. A5 — PM Report Ext. A6 — Family Certificate And Other related documents have been marked as Ext. A7 to A 12.

6. The claimants examined themselves as witnesses.

7. Learned Tribunal has dismissed the claim application on the ground that there was no recovery of any ticket and there was no direct eye witness to the accidental fall of the deceased. It was also noted by the Tribunal that if the ticket had been purchased in presence of the family members, CCTV footage could have been adduced into evidence. In absence of any such evidence of accidental fall, the claim application was rejected.

8. It is argued by learned counsel for the claimants that the death of Md.

Aadil in an untoward incident during his journey from the train has been proved by the documents which have been adduced into evidence on behalf of the applicants. These documents are not private documents but are the documents which were recorded by the GRP and Railway Police.

9. As per the written report of the claimant (AW1), the deceased had started his journey by Steel Express Train and had suffered an accidental fall during his train journey near Asanboni. U.D. Case No. 28/2019 was registered on the basis of the written report submitted by the claimant (AW1). The inquest report specifically notes that the death was caused due to fall from the train. After completing inquiry under Section 174 of Cr.P.C. final report (Ext. A4), has been submitted, wherein it has come that while returning after celebrating Eid festival, he had an accidental fall from the train resulting in his death.

10. These facts have also come in the testimony of the claimants, who have been cross-examined extensively by the defence, which has failed to impeach their credit.

11. Learned counsel for the Railways has defended the impugned order and submitted that any ticket has not been produced in support of the contention that he was a bonafide passenger and was travelling by Tata Steel Express train from Jamshedpur to Howrah. It has also