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2025 Supreme(Online)(RCT) 125
RAILWAY CLAIM TRIBUNAL - DELHI
Mr. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA, CJ
SH MANOJ SINGH & ANR – Appellant
Versus
UNION OF INDIA THROUGH GENERAL MANAGER – Respondent
OA (II u)/DLI/88/2024
Sh. Inderjeet Singh, counsel for the applicant through hybrid mode. Sh. Mohit Sharma, counsel for the respondent.
The court established that a passenger's accidental death due to falling from a train constitutes an untoward incident under the Railways Act, warranting compensation.
Headnote:(A) Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 - Section 16 - Railways Act, 1989 - Section 123(c) - Claim for compensation for death of a passenger due to an untoward incident - Deceased was a bonafide passenger with a valid ticket - Incident occurred due to overcrowding and jerk of the train, leading to accidental fall - Respondent admitted liability for being a bonafide passenger but contested the nature of the incident - Court found that the death was due to an untoward incident as defined under the Act - Compensation awarded of Rs. 8,00,000/- with 9% interest from the date of incident. (Paras 1, 8, 12, 14)
(B) Burden of proof - The burden lies on the claimant to establish the occurrence of an untoward incident, which was satisfied through the evidence presented. (Paras 6, 7)
(C) Disbursement of compensation - The Tribunal directed the compensation to be shared equally between the parents of the deceased, with specific instructions for the mode of payment to protect the awarded sum. (Paras 10, 12, 14)
JUDGMENT
Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia, Chairman (Oral):-
1. Sh. Manoj Singh and Smt. Manti Devi, parents of Sajjan Kumar, have preferred present claim application under Section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, praying that for the death of their unmarried son Sajjan Kumar , aged 18 years in an untoward incident, compensation be awarded as he was a bonafide passenger. It is pleaded that Sajjan Kumar (hereinafter called ‘deceased’) on 7th August 2023, undertook journey from Chapra to Ludhiana in Shaheed Express Train and when on the next day i.e 8th August 2023, the said train reached near Saharanpur Railway Station, due to overcrowding in the train and the jerk of the train, Sajjan Kumar, accidentally fell from the train and died at the spot. It is further averred in the claim application that the deceased while travelling in train no. 14673, Shaheed Express Train was having a valid railway journey ticket annexed with the claim application.
2. Notice of the claim application was issued. Respondent filed Written Statement along with the report of DRM. In Para-4 of the Preliminary Objections, it is admitted that the deceased was a bonafide passenger and Station Master, in a statement admitted that on 8th August 2023, he was on his duty at Sarsawa Railway Station and at around 12:43 PM after passing of train no. 14673 Shaheed Express through Sarsawa railway station, he received information from Duty Pointsman that a person had fallen in front of railway station from train no. 14673 Shaheed Express. It was admitted in Para-4 of the Preliminary Objections that the deceased was a bonafide passenger but he had not died in an untoward incident. For ready reference, Para-4 of the Preliminary Objections is reproduced below:-
“4. That in the present matter, the preliminary enquiry was conducted and according to the statement of the Station Master of Sarsawa Railway Station that on 08.08.2023 his duty was at Sarsawa Railway Station to operate trains from 07 am to 3 pm. At around 12:43 pm after train no 14673 Shaheed Express passed through Sarsawa railway station, an information was received from the on duty point man that a person had fallen in front of the station from train no. 14673 Shaheed Express. After receiving information Station Master had seen that a person was lying in an injured condition at KM No. 194/05, Station Master immediately called ambulance and informed GRP/RPF/SRE. According to the statement of Sh. Manoj Kumar his son Sajjan Kumar died after falling from the train at Sarsawa Railway Station yard while travelling in train no. 14673 Shaheed Express from Chapra Railway Station to Ludhiana Railway Station, in respect of which claim has been filled by him only. During investigation according to the statements of the Loco pilot and the train Manager of train no. 14673 UP, that on 08.08.2023 there is no information regarding happening of the above incident and any passenger did not pull the ACP to stop the train during the incident. It cannot be determined that the above said incident occurred as a result of any failure of the railway department. The death of the deceased caused due to his own carelessness and negligence. That the injured was a bonafide passenger of the train but the incident is not an Untoward incident. Therefore the Railway Administration has no liability of the present claim.”(Reproduced in Verbatim)
3. In the statutory report of DRM Ex. R-1 in column no. 19, it was stated that railway ticket no. AAE-08645173 issued from CBS railway station Chapra Junction was verified and the said ticket for journey from Chapra to Ludhiana was issued from window no. 1, authorising one person to travel and the amount of the ticket purchased was Rs. 325/-. It will be apposite here to reproduce column Nos. 19 and 20 of the Investigation Report which was approved by Statutory Authority, Divisional Railway Manager:-
4. Member (Judicial) RCT/Jaipur, while holding Circuit Bench at RCT/Delhi, on 24th May 2024, passed the following
