The burden to prove a passenger's non-bona fides rests with the Railway if an untoward incident is established.

JUDGMENT

The judgment dated 30.06.2017 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Chennai Bench in OA (II-U) No.96 of 2016, is under challenge in the present Civil Miscellaneous Appeal.

2. The claimant is the appellant and the claim petition was filed based on the facts as narrated in the claim petition, which read as under:-

“The deceased was working in a Poultry Farm at Chennai. After visiting his house at Virudunagar on 03.09.2014 and to return for his job, he came to Virudunagar Railway Station along with his brother Venkatesh and procured an ordinary ticket for him to travel from Virudunagar Junction to Chennai Egmore in Ticket No.536268746 and travelled in Train No.12662, Pothigai Express while the train came in between Kodai Road – Ambaturai Railway Stations due to high speed, heavy crowd, jerk and jolt of the train, the deceased accidentally fell down from the running train at KM 447/400-500 and sustained head injury and died on the spot. The claimants crave leave of this Hon'ble Tribunal to read the Postmortem Certificate as part and parcel of this claim petition. Further, the FIR, Inquest Report and the Final Report clearly reveal that the death of the deceased is due to unexpected fall from the running train and hence it is an untoward Railway incident and there are no other reasons to suspect the death of the deceased.”

3. The respondent-Railway disputed the claim mainly on the ground that the deceased was not possessing a valid journey ticket and therefore, the claim petition cannot be considered.

4. The Railway Tribunal also formed an opinion that the journey ticket was not produced nor it was established that the deceased was a bona fide passenger and accordingly, rejected the application.

5. Perusal of the records reveal that the Station Master Reported the untoward incident before the Police Station and the FIR was registered. The co-passengers, who travelled along with the deceased, also informed about the untoward incident of the deceased falling down from a running train.

6. The Inquest Report reveals that on 03.09.2014 night prior to 23.15 hours, the deceased, who travelled in the train, unexpectedly fell down from the train and died when the train was running between Kodai Road and Ambathurai Railway Stations at KM 447/400-500 and the inquest on the dead body of the deceased was conducted at the place of occurrence on 04.09.2014.

7. The Final Report also confirms that the death occurred due to untoward incident. It is stated in the Final Report that there was a crowd in the train and the deceased travelled by sitting in the steps near the entrance of the compartment and due to the speed of the train during the journey unexpectedly without his knowledge, he slept enjoying the cool breeze came from outside and when the train was running at the place of occurrence between Kodai Road and Ambathurai Railway Stations at KM 447/400-500, unexpectedly fallen down from the running train, sustained severe injuries and died on the spot.

8. The DRM Report also reveals that the deceased had travelled in the train was sitting on the foot-board, without possessing a valid journey ticket, fallen down from the running train. However, the Inquest Report states that the deceased was not holding a valid journey ticket, but his travelling in the train was admitted and the untoward incident occurred due to falling down from the train was also established.

9. This Court is of an opinion that once an untoward incident is established and the death occurred due to falling down from the running train and if the journey ticket was not retrieved, the burden of proof must be shifted on the Railway that the deceased passenger was n