THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE M.G.PRIYADARSINI CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL No.330 OF 2019

JUDGMENT:

1. This Civil Miscellaneous Application is filed by the applicants under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1978 (for short ‘Act’) aggrieved by the order dated 13.12.2018 in OA II (U) No.398 of 2014 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal Secunderabad Bench, at Secunderabad (hereinafter referred to as ‘Tribunal’), wherein the claim petition filed by the applicants claiming compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- with interest at the rate of 15% per annum for the death of Sri V.Narasimha Rao, was dismissed.

2. For the sake of convenience, hereinafter, the parties will be referred as per their array before the Tribunal.

3. The brief facts of the case are that Sri V.Narasimha Rao (hereinafter referred as ‘deceased’) is the father of the applicants. The deceased is the native of Chodavaram Village, Pedana Mandal, Krishna District and on 24.06.2014, the deceased with an intention to meet his younger son and brother-in-law came to Hyderabad and after one day stay with his son, he went to the house of his brother-in-law and stayed there for two days. On

26.06.2014, the deceased along with one of his relative namely Sri Adapa Suribabu went to Secunderabad Railway Station and purchased journey ticket bearing No. 27959352 and boarded Machilipatnam Express train. The said Adapa Suribabu accompanied the deceased to Railway Station. When the train reached near Kesamudram Railway Station, the deceased accidentally fell down and succumbed to the grievous injuries on the spot. Railway staff found his body on 27.06.2014 early morning hours and informed to Sub-Inspector/Government Railway Police/Warangal, Railway Protection Force/Warangal to conduct enquiry. Based on the said information, a complaint was registered in Crime No. 88 of 2014. On 01.07.2014, the applicant No.1 casually enquired about the deceased with his younger brother at Hyderabad, then he came to know that the deceased left to his native on 26.06.2014. Thereafter, the relatives of deceased started searching for him. When the applicant No. 1 went to Pedana Police Station to lodge a complaint about the missing person (the deceased) he came to know from Warangal police that one old aged person died at Kesamudram Railway Station and apprehending him as deceased. Based on photographs of the deceased at Kesamudram Railway Station, the applicants have identified the deceased. Thus, the applicants being the dependents of the deceased, have filed the application claiming Rs.4,00,000/- as compensation from the respondent-railways.

4. The respondent railways filed written statement along with the report of the Divisional Railway Manager (for short ‘DRM’), wherein it is contended that the applicants have not filed proper documentary proof regarding the Death Certificate of the deceased and denied the averments of the applicants and also contended that there is no cause of action for applicants as the claim does not fall within the ambit of Section 123(c) or Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989 and further contended that the accident had happened due to the negligence, careless, rashness, criminal negligence acts of the deceased which amounts to self-infected injury and his own criminal act which fall under exception (b) and (c) of the Railways Act and therefore, Railway Administration is not liable to pay the compensation. It is also contended that there is no documentary proof to show that the applicants are the legal heirs of the deceased and prayed to dismiss the application.

5. Based on the pleadings of the parties, the Tribunal framed the following issues:

1. Whether the deceased was a bona fide passenger of the Train in question and died as a result of an untoward incident?

2. Whether the Applicant(s) is/are dependant(s) of the deceased?

3.Whether the applicants(s) is/are entitled to the compensation as claimed?

4. To what relief?

6. The applicants, in order to substantiate their claim, examined