Supreme Court restores compensation for parents of deceased railway passenger in untoward incident case, Court holds that absence of a travel ticket does not by itself defeat claim under Section 124-A of the Railways Act if bona fide passenger status is established; belated investigation report also ignored.
The Supreme Court has set aside a Gujarat High Court order and restored compensation awarded to the parents of a man who died after falling from a train in an untoward incident. The Court held that compensation under Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989 cannot be denied merely because no ticket was recovered from the victim, so long as the claimants establish that the deceased was a bona fide passenger.
A Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S. Chandurkar allowed the appeal filed by Sukhabhai Nanjibhai Makwana and another, the parents of Maheshbhai, who suffered fatal injuries after falling from a train between Sabarmati and Ahmedabad stations on September 27, 2017. The victim was travelling in the general compartment when, according to the claimants, a sudden jerk and jolt caused him to lose balance and fall. He was admitted to hospital but died on October 31, 2017.
The Railway Claims Tribunal had accepted the claim and awarded Rs. 8 lakh compensation with 9% interest. However, the Gujarat High Court reversed that decision, holding that there was insufficient evidence of an untoward incident and that no ticket was found with the deceased. The Supreme Court disagreed, saying the High Court had taken an unduly narrow view of the evidence.
The Court noted that the claimants had specifically pleaded that the deceased had purchased a ticket which was later lost along with other belongings. The father of the deceased also deposed on oath that his son had bought a ticket before travelling. The Bench observed that this was sufficient to discharge the initial burden, after which the burden shifted to the Railways to rebut the claim.
The Railways, the Court found, failed to do so. Its witnesses admitted that they had not checked the victim’s pockets for a ticket and had no personal knowledge of the incident. The Court said that the absence of a recovered ticket cannot automatically mean that the passenger was unauthorised, especially when the victim had remained hospitalised for more than a month after the accident.
Relying on the principle laid down in Union of India v. Rina Devi and Union of India v. Prabhakaran Vijaya Kumar, the Court reiterated that Section 124-A imposes a strict liability regime. It emphasised that in compensation claims of this nature, the claimant may discharge the initial burden by affidavit and surrounding facts, and the Railways must then disprove bona fide passenger status if it disputes the claim.
The Court also rejected the Railways’ reliance on an investigation report prepared nearly seven months after the incident. It held that the delay in preparing the report, for which no explanation was offered, could not be used against the claimants. Citing Kalandi Charan Sahoo, the Bench said belated inquiry reports lacking prompt investigation deserve little weight.
Concluding that the Tribunal had rightly granted compensation, the Supreme Court restored the award and directed the Railways to satisfy it within 30 days. The Court held that the High Court erred in denying compensation solely on the basis that the ticket was not produced.
Bottom Line:
Compensation under Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989 cannot be denied merely due to the absence of a travel ticket, provided the claimant establishes that the deceased was a bona fide passenger. The burden of rebuttal then shifts to the Railways.
Statutory provision(s): Section 124-A, Railways Act, 1989, Section 123(c)(2), Railways Act, 1989, Section 16, Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, Section 23, Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, Rule 6, Railway Passengers (Manner of Investigation of Untoward Incidents) Rules, 2003, Rule 7, Railway Passengers (Manner of Investigation of Untoward Incidents) Rules, 2003
Sukhabhai Nanjibhai Makwana v. Union of India, (SC) : Law Finder Doc Id # 2985655
