A claimant seeking compensation under Section 124-A of the Railways Act must prove the deceased was a bona fide passenger and that the death occurred due to an 'untoward incident' (accidental fall); failure to produce a ticket or eyewitness evidence, coupled with forensic evidence of run-over injuries, defeats the claim.

By Shri. Rajeev Jain, Member (J) RCT/Jaipur Circuit Bench at RCT/Mumbai

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 13.06.2017 involving death of Siddharth Subhash Salve, (herein after referred as the deceased). The Applicants claim that, being wife, children and parents of the deceased, are dependents of Siddharth Subhash Salve .

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

2. It is stated that, the deceased, Siddharth Subhash Salve, was a resident of Nandurbar. It is alleged that, on 13.06.2017, the deceased was travelling from Khandbara to Ukai Railway Station by train no. 59078 Bhusaval-Surat Passenger. When the train was near Khandbara Railway Station, at K.M. no. 133/01-03 the deceased, due to a sudden push from co-passengers, accidentally fell down from the running train. Immediately thereafter, he was shifted to the Khadbara PHC Hospital for medical treatment; however, upon examination, he was declared dead by the attending medical officer. The Applicants have alleged that the deceased was holding a 2nd class Railway Ticket, from Khandbara to Ukai Railway Station, however, the said ticket was lost in the incident. It is therefore contended that the deceased was a bona-fide passenger and died in an untoward incident occurred on 13.06.2017.

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 13.06.2017, at approximately 07:40 hrs., the Station Superintendent Khandbara received an information from loco pilot of train no. 12834 on the walkie-talkie that someone was lying between Km. No. 133/1-3. Station Superintendent Khandwara informed GRP Nandurbar via phone and memo, and the track was cleared by the gangman. Upon receiving the information, GRP Nandurbar reached the spot and found an unknown man, aged about 34 years old, lying with his skull fractured and severed below the waist. During the search by GRP Nandurbar, no ticket, pass or other authority documents were found on the deceased. GRP Nandurbar has mentioned in its investigative panchnama that the deceased died on the spot after body cut into two pieces from waist after coming under a moving train. From an examination of the documents obtained, it appears that Station Superintendent Khandbara has stated in his documents that the loco pilot of train no. 12834 reported on the walkie-talkie that someone was lying between km. 133/1-3. In its Inquest Panchnama, GRP Nandurbar has stated that the deceased died at the spot, having been completely cut off below the waist under a moving train. This clearly indicates that the deceased died while crossing the tracks, having entered the railway premises unauthorisedly, and was hit by a moving train. This incident occurred due to the deceased's own negligence and non-compliance with railway rules. It would not be fair to hold the railway administration responsible for this incident. During the search by GRP Nandurbar, no ticket, pass, or other authorization documents were found on the deceased. Therefore, the deceased was not a genuine railway passenger.

4. In view of pleadings of both parties, and relevant documents produced on record, this Tribunal framed the following issues on 10.09.2018 for just and proper adjudication of Claim Application on merit within ambit of law.

1. Whether the deceased was travelling on a valid railway journey ticket and was a bonafide passenger of the tr