रेल दावा अधिकरण लखनऊ न्यायपीठ RAILWAY CLAIMS TRIBUNAL LUCKNOW BENCH Claim Application No.: OA/II/U/LKO/301/2023 CORAM:

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bachchoo Lal, Member (Judicial)

Date of Institution: 06.12.2023 Date of Decision: 28.04.2026 Avadhesh Kumar, aged about 40 yrs. S/O Late Ram Shankar R/o- Village –Anui Khera P. S. – Bara Sagar, District- Unnao (U.P.)

……. APPLICANT VERSUS Union of India through General Manager, Northern Railway, Baroda House, New Delhi.

……. RESPONDENT Appearance: Shri Manish Tripathi, counsel for the applicant Shri A. K. Sinha, counsel for the respondent. CLAIM FOR Rs. 8,00,000.00/- (with interest)

JUDGMENT

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bachchoo Lal, Member (Judicial)

1. The applicant, Avadhesh Kumar, S/o Late Ram Shankar has filed this claim application under section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 against the respondent Railway administration for payment of compensation for the death of his mother Late Shanti Devi W/O Late Ram Shankar Kushwaha (hereinafter referred to as “the deceased”), on the ground of his dependency on the deceased, who allegedly died as a result of an untoward incident.

2. It has been averred in the claim application that the deceased when alive was travelling with her grand daughter namely Komal from Chandigarh to Takiya Railway station by train No. 14218, Unchahar Express on 24.07.2023 with a valid journey ticket No. UAG 40327190. During the course of her journey, she accidentally fell down from the train at Takiya railway station when she was alighting from the train, as a result whereof, she sustained serious injuries and died on the spot. Her second class railway ticket from Chandigarh to Takiya station was recovered from the possession of the deceased and mentioned in the inquest report. Further, the Police on receipt of the information about this incident, completed requisite formalities including panchanama and post-mortem on the dead body. Thereafter, the dead body of deceased was handed over to her family members for last rites.

3. Notice was issued to the respondent Railway administration who contested the claim of the applicant by filing written statement, wherein apart from denying the allegations made in the claim application, it is contended inter alia that the deceased was neither a passenger in the alleged train nor did she fall from the train in question on the alleged date of the incident. Accordingly, this incident did not fall within the purview of Section 123 (c) (2) read with Sec. 124A of the Railways Act, 1989. Hence, the application is liable to be dismissed with costs.

ISSUES

4.On the basis of pleadings of the parties, following issues were framed on

08.09.2025 for adjudication:

i) Whether the deceased was a bonafide passenger of the train in question?

ii) Whether incident of death of the deceased falls under the ambit of an untoward incident as defined U/s 123 ( c) (2) read with Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989?

iii) Whether the applicant is the only dependent of the deceased?

iv) To what relief?

5. The applicant Avadhesh Kumar as filed his affidavit as AW-1, followed by his cross-examination on 24.11.2025. The applicant has filed and relied on certified/attested copies of the documents i.e. journey ticket No. UAG 40327190, Panchanama, post-mortem report and copy of pariwar register with certain documents in evidence.

6. Respondent filed and relied on documentary evidence i.e. statutory investigation report of the Divisional railway Manager (duly approved by ADRM, Lucknow), containing several documents as evidence.

7. Heard both the Ld. counsel for the parties and perused carefully the documents on record filed by the rival parties. During the course of arguments, Ld. Counsel for the respondent has submitted that the DRM report and WS have been filed in another case No. OA/II/U/205/2023 (duplicate case) attached with this case. Since duplicate cases have been filed by the applicant on the same cause of action, therefore, case No. OA/II/U/205/2023 was dismissed vide