[2025:RJ-JP:50868]

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR S.B. Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 823/2010

1. Sanjay Kumar S/o Shri Sunder Lal, aged about 26 years.

2. Sonu Kumar S/o Late Shri Sunder Lal, aged about 23 years.

Both R/o H No.48-K-1, Village Bhoop Seda, Tehsil Bansoor, District Alwar (Rajasthan).

----Appellant Versus

1. Union of India through the General Manager, North Western Railway, Jaipur (Rajasthan).

2. Smt. Vimla Devi W/o Shri Kailash aged about 34 years R/o Pratapgarh, Tehsil Thanagaji, District Alwar.

3. Smt. Sushila Devi W/o Shri Rajesh aged about 32 years R/o Baldevgarh, Tehsil Thanagaji, District Alwar.

4. Smt. Bala W/o Shri Ram Babu, aged about 24 years R/o Bandikui District Dausa.

----Respondents For Appellant(s) : Mr. Ajay Shukla assisted by Ms. Jyoti Sharma For Respondent(s) : Mr. P.C. Sharma assisted by Ms. Arpita Joshi Mr. Vinay Mathur HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAVI CHIRANIA

Order

1. The instant appeal has been filed by the appellants-claimants namely Sanjay Kumar and Sonu Kumar, both sons of Late Shri Sunder Lal (deceased), under Section 23 of the Railway Claim Tribunal Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Act of 1987’ for short) challenging the impugned order dated 24.12.2009 passed by the learned Railway Claims Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as ‘learned Tribunal’ for short), Jaipur Bench, in OA-II-76-2006, whereby the claim petition filed by the appellants was dismissed for the reasons as mentioned in the order impugned.

2. Learned counsel appearing for the appellants, Mr.Ajay Shukla assisted by Ms.Jyoti Sharma, submitted that the deceased, Sunder Lal, died while he was trying to board the Train No.187 (Jaipur- Hisar Fast Passenger) for his journey from Khairtal to Bhiwani on the unfortunate date i.e. 01.03.2006. It is submitted that on the said date, the deceased, who was a class-IV employee, had purchased a valid second class ticket, however, while boarding the train, he could not hold the handle bars of the gate, lost his balance and slipped inside the railway track, on account of which, he sustained grievous injuries, resulting in death at the spot. Learned counsel submitted that the incident was reported by the railway authorities, on account of which, an FIR bearing No.9/2006 was registered. Initially the identity of the deceased was not known, however, upon recovery of certain documents from cloths of the deceased, the family members were informed, and thereafter, the police conducted the investigation and concluded that while boarding the train, the deceased could not catch the handle of the gate and lost his balance, on account of which, he slipped inside the railway tracks due to which his neck was cut and he died on the spot.

3. Learned counsel submitted that for the said incident, the legal representatives of the deceased filed a claim petition under Section 16 of the Act of 1987 read with Section 125 of the Railways Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Act of 1989’ for short) seeking compensation of Rs.6,00,000/- along-with interest for the alleged ‘untoward incident’ that occurred while the deceased was boarding the train.

4. Learned counsel submitted that on the basis of the pleadings of the parties, learned Tribunal framed three issues:- issue No.1 pertained to whether the deceased was carrying a valid second class railway journey ticket and was a bona-fide passenger of the said train; issue No.2 related to whether the deceased accidentally fell from the train, on account of which he sustained multiple grievous injuries and died on the spot, and therefore, whether the claimants were entitled to compensation under Section 123(c) (2) of the Act of 1989. To support the claim, the claimants got examined a witness namely Munna Khan, whose statement was recorded on 15.12.2009.

5. Learned counsel submitted that the material witnesses strongly supported their case.

6. It is further submitted that the witness Munna Khan (Hawker) specifically supported the case of appellants, as he was th