The Bombay High Court has awarded compensation to the family of a man who died after accidentally falling from a local train, holding that the mere absence of a railway ticket on the deceased’s person cannot, by itself, defeat a claim under the Railways Act, 1989. Setting aside an order of the Railway Claims Tribunal, which had rejected the claim on the ground that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger and that the incident did not qualify as an “untoward incident”,Justice Rajesh S. Patil granted compensation of ₹8.83 lakh to the victim’s dependants.
The appeal arose from a claim filed by the appellants seeking compensation for a person, who died after allegedly falling from a moving local train between Vangani and Badlapur stations. The Tribunal had dismissed the claim in 2021 because the deceased was not a bona fide passenger and the incident did not qualify as an untoward incident. This led to present appeal before Bombay High Court.
Before the High Court, the appellants contended that the deceased was travelling with a valid railway ticket, which was lost in the accident, and he had accidentally fallen from the train. The Railways, on the other hand, argued that no ticket was recovered from the body and the incident was a case of trespass.
The Court referred to Union of India v. Rina Devi, (2019) 3 SCC572 which held that mere absence of a ticket is not fatal to a claim. The Court emphasised the shifting burden of proof in such cases. The Court found that the Tribunal had erred in rejecting the claim and held its findings to be contrary to settled law.
On the issue of whether the death constituted an untoward incident, the Court rejected the Railways’ argument that the nature of the injuries indicated trespass. While the Railways had alleged that the deceased was trespassing on the tracks and had been hit by an unknown train, the High Court observed that there was no eyewitness account and no evidence from any motorman, guard or railway official establishing that the deceased had been crossing the tracks. The Station Master’s records merely showed that the body was found near the railway line.
On the quantum of compensation, the Court applied the principles laid down in Rina Devi and held that the claimants are entitled to the higher of the two amounts, either the compensation applicable at the time of the accident with interest or the enhanced amount under the amended rules. Calculating compensation at ₹4 lakh with 9% annual interest from the date of the accident, the Court arrived at a total of ₹8.83 lakh.
Accordingly, the Court directed the Railways to pay ₹8.83 lakh to the appellants, being the dependents of the deceased, to be equally distributed among them within eight weeks.
