Punjab & Haryana High Court Orders ₹8 Lakh Compensation To Rail Accident Victim
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that a claim for compensation for a rail accident cannot be denied merely because the ticket number is wrongly mentioned in the claim petition.
The Court was considering an appeal against the award passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal whereby the Claim Petition filed by the appellants seeking compensation on account of death of the deceased in an untoward incident while travelling by the Railways was rejected.
The Bench of Justice Pankaj Jain observed, “In view thereof, this Court finds that once it stands proved that deceased-Gaurav Kumar was holding a valid MST on the given date even though last digit was wrongly mentioned in the claim petition, the Tribunal ought not have held him to be a bona fide passenger. Resultantly, the finding is reversed. The deceased is held to be bona fide passenger holding a valid MST on the date of accident.”
The Appellant was represented by Advocate Ujval Mittal, while the Respondent was represented by Senior Panel Counsel Amit Sharma.
Facts of the Case
The primary dispute was related to the deceased being a passenger, as the Claimants claimed that the deceased was travelling on a Monthly Seasonal Ticket (MST), which is a valid ticket. The ticket, however, could not be recovered as the same was lost in the incident. The Tribunal disbelieved the story put forth by the Claimants regarding loss of MST and further held that the claimed ticket number was issued in another passenger’s name.
Counsel for the Appellants submitted that the record produced by the Railways shows that a nearby entry bears the name of the deceased on the MST. He thus submitted that from the records produced by the Railways itself, it stands proved that the deceased was holding a valid MST on the date of the accident and the claimant should not be non-suited merely for the reason that the last digit of the number was wrongly mentioned as 8 instead of 5.
Reasoning By Court
The Court was convinced that it had been proved that the deceased was a bona fide passenger holding a valid ticket on the date of the accident.
Further, considering the medical opinion that the cause of death is due to a railway track accident, the Court observed, “….That being a case and there being no evidence to prove that there was any intention on the part of the deceased to suffer self inflicted injuries, finding on Issue No.2 also needs to be reversed in terms of law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of ‘Union of India versus Rina Devi’, 2018 (3) RCR (Civil) 40. The deceased is held to have lost his life in an untoward incident as contemplated under Section 124-A of the Railways Act.”
The Appellants were hence awarded a compensation of Rs. 4,00,000/- along with interest or Rs. 8,00,000/-, whichever is higher. The Appeal was accordingly allowed.
Cause Title: Ramchander Shukla and another vs. Union of India (2025:PHHC:070366)
