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2012 DIGILAW 247 (PAT)

Munni Kuwar v. Union Of India

2012-02-09

SHAILESH KUMAR SINHA

body2012
Judgment 1. THIS appeal is directed against the order dated 6 th of February, 2009 in Claim Application No.OA 000122/04 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Patna Bench (hereinafter referred to as "the Tribunal") rejecting the claim application of the appellant filed under the provisions of section 125 of the Railways Act, 1989, read with section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, seeking compensation of Rs.4,05,000/- (Four lakh five thousand) for the death of her son Santosh Kumar alias Santosh Kumar Gupta on account of untoward incident due to his felling down from the train at Platform No.6 of Dehri-On-Sone Railway Station. 2. THE aforesaid claim application was dismissed by the Tribunal by holding that the applicant failed to come up with any credible evidence in support of her claim inasmuch as the applicant failed even to mark the documents as exhibits in the case, although some documents were filed along with the claim application. In opposition of the claim, the Railway filed the written statement denying the claim. However, no documents were filed in opposition of the claim. The applicant-appellant accordingly presents this appeal. 3. LEARNED counsel appearing for the appellant submits that the claim application was dismissed without any reasonable justification in law. It is submitted that in support of the claim, the applicant filed affidavit of her own as also of one Ramayan Kumar, who had witnessed the purchase of the ticket by the deceased and he had also witnessed the deceased boarding Train No.302 Down (Varanashi-Asansol Passenger) at Sasaram Railway Station for going to Anugrah Narain Road Railway Station on 10.7.2004 in connection with the business. It is further submitted that said Ramayan Kumar was informed by one of his friends, namely, Sunil Kumar Gupta on telephone from Dehri-On-Sone that the deceased Santosh Kumar Gupta died in an untoward incident at Dehri-On-Sone Railway Station. Thereafter said Ramayan Kumar after informing the mother of the deceased proceeded for Dehri-On-Sone and found the deceased dead at Platform No.6 and after gathering information with regard to the untoward incident that the deceased fell down from the train on receiving jerk in the train, informed the police. U.D. Case No.08 of 2004 was registered by the Railway Police at Dehri-On-Sone after preparation of inquest report. The dead body was sent for post- mortem. The Station Manager, E.C.R, Dehri-On-Sone issued memo dated 10.7.2004 informing GRP Police. U.D. Case No.08 of 2004 was registered by the Railway Police at Dehri-On-Sone after preparation of inquest report. The dead body was sent for post- mortem. The Station Manager, E.C.R, Dehri-On-Sone issued memo dated 10.7.2004 informing GRP Police. The police after investigation submitted final report finding that the deceased died in the aforesaid untoward incident. The post-mortem report also substantiates the claim of the applicant with respect to the nature of injuries on the body of the deceased and consequent death. LEARNED counsel submits that from the above it would appear that although the relevant documents were already on record, which were sufficient to establish the claim of the claimant, there was no evidence, oral or documentary, brought on the record on behalf of the Railway to counter the evidence or the claim. As such, the Tribunal ought to have allowed the claim instead of dismissing the same. 4. ON the other hand, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent-Railway submits that even though no evidence was adduced on behalf of the Railway to deny the claim, the applicant was required to prove the claim on her own. The deceased was not a bona fide passenger as the ticket was not produced nor referred in any of the documents. It was also submitted that there was no evidence on the record that the deceased fell down from the train due to heavy rush. Accordingly, the learned counsel supports the order under appeal and prays for dismissal of the present appeal. Considering the rival submissions of the parties and on perusal of the evidence by way of affidavits as also the documents on the record, it would appear that the documents, which ought to have been brought on the record by the applicant i.e., inquest report, Fard beyan of A.W.2 Ramayan Kumar, the memo of Station Manager, ECR, Dehri-On-Sone, including the police report with respect to the death in question, post-mortem report, the death certificate and the dependency certificate granted by the concerned Ward Commissioner, were all brought on the record. In the opinion of the Court, the claim of the applicant cannot be thrown out if the documents produced were not marked as exhibits by the Tribunal. The documents ought to had been marked as exhibits in the absence of any objection to the documents. 5. In the opinion of the Court, the claim of the applicant cannot be thrown out if the documents produced were not marked as exhibits by the Tribunal. The documents ought to had been marked as exhibits in the absence of any objection to the documents. 5. AS regards the claim of the Railway that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger, it was for the Railway to establish that the concerned person/the deceased was not a bona fide passenger. It has been stated in the affidavits filed on behalf of the applicant that the tickets were lost in the aforesaid untoward accident. AS noticed above, the Railway did not adduce any evidence whatsoever to deny the claim, including the claim that the deceased was a bona fide passenger. In view of the above, the dismissal of the claim by the Tribunal was not justified. 6. FOR the reasons and the discussion above, the order dated 6th of February, 2009 in Claim Application No.OA 000122/04 passed by the Tribunal under the appeal is hereby set aside. The applicant's claim is allowed for a sum of Rs.4,00,000/- (Four lac) as prescribed in Part I under the Schedule of the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules, 1990 with simple interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the claim application i.e., 13.9.2004 till payment. The aforesaid amount be paid by the respondent-Railway within a period of three months. The appeal accordingly stands allowed as indicated above. 7. THE lower court record received from the Tribunal be sent down without delay.