Ram Sakhi Devi v. Ecr

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RAILWAY CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, BENCH- Case No: OA (II u)/PNBE/2003/0338 Date of Judgement: 01/Apr/2014 RAM SAKHI DEVI ............Applicant Versus Union of India ECR/EAST CENTRAL ............Respondent RAILWAY CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, PATNA BENCH Coram : Dr. Bhabaranjan Ray, Honble Member (Technical), RCT/Patna Bench Claim Application No. : OA 00338/2003Date of Registration : 04.12.2003Date of decision : 01.04.2014 Ram Sakhi Devi - ApplicantAt Koteswar Tola (Mohanpur)P.O. KoteshwarP.S. SakaraDistt. Muzaffarupur (Bihar) Versus Union of India, through the General Manager, - RespondentE.C. Railway, Hajipur Counsel appeared :For the Applicant : Shri K.M. Murari, Harendra Pandey & Arun Kumar, Advocates For the Respondent: Shri Sunil Kumar, Advocate Claim for Rs.4,00,000/- 01. The claim application is filed by Ramshakhi Devi, wife of late Maheshwar Giri in the Tribunal, for the payment of compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- (rupees four lakh), only on account of death of her husband, due to injuries sustained by him allegedly in an untoward incident. The OA was dismissed for default on 26.08.2013. Restoration Petition No.3/2013 arising out of OA No.338/03 was allowed vide tribunals order dtd.29.01.2014.02. The applicant has averred in the claim application that on 26.06.2003, the deceased, holding valid II class journey ticket from Patna to Kiul boarded train No.3112 Dn. (Lalkila Exp.) at Patna Jn. for going to Kiul. The deceased accidentally fell down from the running train on the down line of platform No.01 near overbridge of Barh Railway Station and died. 03. In the Written Statement, the respondent denied the allegation and averred that the deceased was not a bonafide passenger. It is further averred that there is no information about the alleged incident with the concerned station. The respondent prayed for dismissal of the case. 04. On the basis of the pleadings of both the parties, the following issues have been framed:1. Whether the deceased was a victim of the alleged untoward incident and whether the alleged untoward incident is covered under Section 123(c)(2) of the Railways Act, 1989 ? 2. Whether the deceased, Maheshwar Giri was a bonafide passenger of Train No.3112 Up. on 10.06.2005 at the time of the alleged untoward incident?3. Whether the claim application of the applicant is maintainable? 4. Whether the applicant of the deceased are entitled to receive compensation, as claimed for ?05. To prove her case, the applicant appeared before the tribunal and gave evidence as AW/01 and marked exhibits. 06. The respondent has not submitted any document and depends only on oral evidence in support of the Written Statement and argument. Findings Issue No. 01, 02, 03 & 04: 07. All these issues are taken together for the sake of convenience. 08. As per the OA (Original Application), the applicant is a resident of Koteshwar Tola (Mohanpur), P.O. Koteshwar, P.S. Sakara, Distt. Muzaffarpur Bihar). The deceased was travelling from Patna to Kiul. The claim application is filed within time. Hence, RCT/Patna is having jurisdiction over it. 09. Applicant appeared before the tribunal and gave evidence. From the Memo (Ext.A/9), it is found that one unknown person was run over by train No.3112 Dn. The inquest Report (Ext.A/10) indicates one unknown person aged around 45 years fell down from Train 3112 Dn. and got seriously injured and died. The FIR (Ext.A/8) indicates an unknown person aged around 45 years fell down, got seriously injured and died. This was on the basis of Memo issued by Station/Barh. The Final Report (Ext.A/7) indicates that the deceased Maheshwar Giri fell down from 3112 Dn. got run over. The applicant produced xerox copy of the death certificate and dependency certificate which are not certified by the issuing authority and they are also not verified by the court, as the applicant did not produce the original copy before the tribunal. From the documents submitted by the applicant, it is found that the deceased died due to fall from 3112 Dn. and the respondent did not produce any evidence to disprove the inquest report, final report of police. Hence, there is no reason to disbelieve the inquest report and the final report. When a person was allowed to travel by the train, it is presumed that he was a bonafide passenger otherwise the respondent would have fined him or forced him to get down. In view of this, the tribunal is of the opinion that the deceased was a bonafide passenger and died by falling from the train which is an untoward incident as per Section 123(c) of the Indian Railways Act. Respondent is liable to pay compensation. All the issues are decided in favour of the applicant and against the respondent. 10. In the result, Ordered that the claim application of the applicant/dependents is hereby allowed, on contest, but without cost. 11. The respondent Railway is hereby directed to pay Rs.4,00,000/- (four lakhs), alongwith simple interest @ 6% per annum from the date of registration of the application i.e. 04.12.2003 till realization, if payment is made, within 60 days from the date of pronouncement of this order, failing which, entire amount will attract simple interest @ 8 % from 04.12.2003 till the date of realization. 1. Rs.2,00,000/- (two lakh) alongwith proportionate interest, shall be paid to the applicant, namely, Ram Sakhi Devi wife of the deceased. 2. Rs.1,00,000/- (one lakh) each along with proportionate interest shall be paid to 1) Bisambhar Giri, son and 2) Shyamnandan Giri, son of the deceased.3. The applicants are directed to submit bank a/c details, original death certificate or copy duly attested by gazetted officer and original dependency certificate or copy duly attested by gazetted officer at the earliest to the respondent. The respondent will not be liable to pay any interest for delayed period caused by applicants in submission of the above document. ( Dr. B. Ray ) Member (Technical) RCT/Patna.