The Bombay High Court dismissed the appeal seeking compensation as the deceased was not found to be a bonafide passenger as per defined under section 2(29) of the Railways Act, 1989 (“the Act”). The Court also held that the indication of alcoholic breath in MLC report and not in the Postmortem report is sufficient to fall under exception (d) in the proviso to section 124A of the Act if a sufficient time gap exists.
Brief Facts:
The petition was filed against the Judgment passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, who dismissed the claim of the Petitioner of compensation along with interest under section 124-A of the Act. The ground taken by the Respondent in the impugned judgement was that there was no valid ticket found on the deceased's body nor was any authority to travel found on him and the death occurred due to the person’s actions.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
The Learned Counsel submitted that the Petitioner contended that deceased was travelling with a valid journey ticket in his possession and the same factum had been deposed by the deceased wife in her affidavit. Therefore, the burden shifts on the Respondent to prove that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger. He further contended that the deceased was shifted from one hospital to another two-three times, and there is a possibility that the journey ticket had been lost at that time. In regard to the submission that no untoward incident had occurred, the Learned Counsel contended that all the police documents also suggest that the deceased died due to falling down from the train and, therefore, as per the decision in the case of Union of India Vs. Rina Devi1, the claim in such a case is permissible. Lastly, the Counsel contended that no alcohol was detected in the Post Mortem Report of the deceased.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The Learned Counsel for the Respondent submitted that the Inquest Proceedings and Naksha Panchnama nowhere mentioned the journey ticket being in possession of the deceased. Further, the wife of the deceased is not an eyewitness to the said incident, nor have the appellants examined any eyewitness to establish the circumstances in which the deceased's death occurred. The Counsel also pointed out the case of the Petitioner falls under the exceptions of section 124A of the Act as the MLC report shows that the deceased was having an alcoholic breath when he was brought after the incident.
Observation of the Court
This Court, after referring to the catena of judgments, observed that the initial burden will be on the claimant to prove that he was a bonafide passenger, which can be discharged by filing an affidavit of the relevant facts, and the burden will then shift on the railways. However, in the present case, nowhere in the entire affidavit it was mentioned that the ticket was purchased by the deceased. Also, the wife was an eyewitness to the same. Therefore, it was held that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger eligible to claim compensation under the scheme of Railways.
The Court had concurred with the Appellant's submission that the said incident was untoward. However, it was also held that this case falls under exception (d) in the proviso to section 124A which refers to any act committed by the deceased in a state of intoxication. The Appellant had not disputed the veracity of the MLC report submitted by the Respondent. They only countered it by stating that there was no indication of alcohol in the Postmortem report. This Court noted that there was a sufficient time gap between the time when the alcohol breath was noticed at the Community Health Centre and the death of the deceased on the next day, after which the Post Mortem was conducted.
The decision of the Court:
The Bombay High Court dismissed the appeal seeking compensation under section 124-A of the Act.
Case Title: Smt. Shobha and others vs Union of India
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Abhay Ahuja
Case no.: FIRST APPEAL NO.565 OF 2021
Advocate for the Appellants: Mr.Ravindra G. Bagul
Advocate for the Respondent: Ms.Neerja G. Chaubey
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