Summary of this article
Supreme Court restores Rs 8 lakh railway accident compensation award.
Missing ticket alone cannot defeat a passenger’s compensation claim.
Court also considered the victim’s month-long hospitalisation before death.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a family cannot be denied railway accident compensation only because the deceased passenger did not have a ticket with him. The Court also considered the fact that the passenger was in hospital for more than a month before his demise, making it unlikely that the ticket would have been preserved.
The case involved the parents of a man who suffered serious injuries after falling from a train while travelling towards Surat in September 2017. He passed away during treatment in October 2017.
Supreme Court Restores Rs 8 Lakh Compensation
The Railway Claims Tribunal had awarded Rs 8 lakh to the passenger’s parents, along with 9 per cent annual interest from the date of the incident. The Gujarat High Court later overturned the compensation order, finding that there was not enough evidence to establish that the man had fallen from the train.
The parents then approached the Supreme Court.
The Court considered the father’s evidence that his son had purchased a railway ticket before travelling. The family’s claim application also mentioned that the ticket and other personal belongings were lost after the accident.
The Supreme Court noted that railway officials who appeared as witnesses had not checked the passenger’s pockets for a ticket. As a result, the Railways could not establish that the passenger was travelling without a valid ticket.
Delay In Railway Report Weighed Against Railways
The Court also considered the timing of the railway investigation report. The report was prepared nearly seven months after the accident and after the family had filed its compensation claim.
The Court found that the delay was not properly explained. It therefore did not rely on the report while deciding whether the passenger qualified for compensation.
After considering the available evidence, the Court found that the passenger was a genuine railway traveller and that his death qualified for compensation under the applicable railway accident provisions.
What The Ruling Means For Compensation Claims
The judgment means that a missing railway ticket does not automatically end a family’s compensation claim after an accident.
A claimant can provide other evidence to establish that the person was travelling as a passenger. In this case, the father’s statement about the ticket, along with the circumstances surrounding the passenger’s hospitalisation, was considered relevant.
The Supreme Court set aside the Gujarat High Court order and restored the Rs 8 lakh compensation awarded by the Railway Claims Tribunal. The Railways have been directed to pay the award within 30 days.
