Supreme Court restores ₹8 lakh railway compensation for deceased passenger’s parents

The Supreme Court has restored an ₹8 lakh compensation award to the parents of a man who died after falling from a moving train in Gujarat in 2017, ruling that the absence of his ticket could not by itself defeat their claim. A Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and A.S. Chandurkar set aside a Gujarat High Court decision that had overturned the award.

The Court said the parents’ claim was supported by the father’s statement on oath that his son had purchased a ticket. Maheshbhai fell from a general compartment after what the Court described as a sudden jerk and jolt while travelling towards Surat via Ahmedabad on September 27, 2017. He suffered grievous injuries, remained hospitalised for more than a month and died on October 31 that year.

The Railway Claims Tribunal had held on June 17, 2022, that the death resulted from an “untoward incident”. It awarded the parents ₹8 lakh, with interest at nine per cent a year from the date of the incident until the date of the order. The Supreme Court said the High Court had placed undue importance on the missing ticket without considering the father’s evidence and the length of the victim’s hospitalisation.

It said that, on the balance of probabilities, he could be treated as a bona fide passenger. The Court noted that the family had also said the ticket, along with personal items and cash, had been lost. It said the father’s sworn statement discharged the initial burden on the claimants, after which the Railways had to rebut it.

Railway witnesses had failed to check the victim’s pockets, the judgment said. The Bench also criticised the delay in preparing the investigation report, which was completed on May 17, 2018, about seven months after the incident. It said the delay was not attributable to the claimants and could not be used by the Railways against them.

The ₹8 lakh award was ordered to be paid within 30 days.