To qualify for compensation under Section 124-A of the Railways Act, the claimant must prove the deceased was a bonafide passenger; evidence of trespassing and run-over injuries negates the classification of the event as an 'untoward incident'.

JUDGEMENT

1. This Claim Application is filed by the applicants under Section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 read with Section 123 (c) (2) & Section 124 - A of the Railways Act, 1989 for compensation arising out of an alleged untoward incident occurred on 27.02.2019 involving death of Satyavan Raghubansh @ Raghuvansh Singh, (herein after referred as the deceased). The Applicants claim that, being parents of the deceased, they are the dependents of Satyavan Raghubansh @ Raghuvansh Singh.

The factual matrix of the matter in nut-shell is as below:

2. It is stated that, the deceased, Satyavan Raghubansh @ Raghuvansh Singh, was a resident of Mumbai. It is alleged that, on 27.02.2019, the deceased was travelling from CSMT to Bhandup railway station by unknown local train. When the said train was traversing in between Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg Railway Station, at K.M. no. 23/00-01 the deceased accidentally fell down from the running train, sustained injuries and died on the spot. The Applicants have alleged that the deceased was holding a 2nd class Railway Ticket, from CSMT to Bhandup Railway Station, the same was lost. It is therefore contended that the deceased was a bona-fide passenger and died in an untoward incident occurred on 27.02.2019.

3. In response to notice, Respondent – Railway Authority appeared and opposed the claim application. The respondent filed written statement and also produced on record the DRM’s report accompanied with other relevant police papers marked as “R-1”. It has been contended in the DRM’s Report that on 27.02.2019 at 18:00 hrs., SM Vikhroli, issued memo to GRP stating that an unknown person was found injured, at K. M. No. 23/00 and 23/01, in between Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg Railway Station. On receipt of memo GRP and two porters attended the said incident spot and after first aid the injured person was taken to Rajawadi Hospital by ambulance. Where on duty doctor declared the said injured person dead. After that GRP prepared the Inquest Panchnama no valuable document was found on the body of the deceased except the clothes on his body. GRP Kurla reviewed the missing reports from all police stations. The missing report from Bhandup police station was found to be similar to the body. GRP Kurla contacted the deceased's elder brother, Sachin Kumar Raghuvansh Singh, age 39, and sent a photo of the deceased to his family via mobile phone. Upon seeing the photo, the deceased's brother stated that the photo resembled his younger brother. The deceased's brother was then called to the Rajawadi Hospital mortuary to identify the deceased. The deceased's brother identified the body as that of his brother, Satyawan Raghuvansh Singh, age 33. As per the above accident case, the relevant documents were obtained from GRP Kurla and according to the GRP Kurla report, the deceased died after being hit by an unknown local train while crossing the railway track. This incident could only have occurred if a person crossed the railway track. Crossing a railway track is a punishable offense under Section 147 of the Railway Act, which the victim violated. Awareness campaigns are periodically conducted to discourage crossing railway tracks, and the Railways also make daily announcements warning against crossing. In addition, hoardings are placed at stations to alert passengers. The deceased was crossing the track v