IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction)
M.A. No.148 of 2018
Smt. Tetri Devi & Ors. ..... ...... Appellants
Versus
Union of India .... .... Respondent
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CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH PRASAD DEO
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For the Appellants : Mr. Arvind Kumar Lall, Advocate
For the Respondent : Mrs. Alpana Verma, Advocate
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The matter is being taken up through Video Conferencing. Learned counsels for the parties have no objection with it and submitted that audio and video qualities are good.
Order No.07 /Dated: 20th April, 2023 Heard, learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. Arvind Kumar Lall and learned counsel for the respondent, Mrs. Alpana Verma.
Learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. Arvind Kumar Lall has submitted that though deceased was a bona fide passenger having railway ticket no.90490018 which has been mentioned in the D.R.M's report marked as Exhibit-R1, but learned Tribunal has wrongly decided issue no.1, relying upon the inquest report prepared by Assistant Sub-Inspector.
Learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. Arvind Kumar Lall has further submitted that any error committed by the Assistant Sub-Inspector of police is not binding for the claimants when the D.R.M's report has considered the railway ticket no.90490018 to be on record.
Learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. Arvind Kumar Lall has relied upon the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of India Vs. Rina Devi reported in (2019) 3 SCC, 572 para 17 of which reads as under:-
"17.The learned ASG for the appellant submitted that view in Rathi Menon stands watered down by subsequent decisions especially in Thazhathe Purayil Sarabi, Mohamadi and Kalandi Charan Sahoo. Rathi Menon was premised on the basis that there was no law for interest and there will be injustice if compensation was paid at money value which had got reduced by the time the compensation was paid. Factually interest was awarded in Rathi Menon. It was on that basis that judgments in the Workmen Compensation cases were held to be distinguishable though the said judgments are of larger Benches. Subsequently in Thazhathe Purayil Sarabi it has been held by this Court, after referring to Rathi Menon, that right to claim compensation accrued on the date of the incident though compensation is computed on the date of the award of the Tribunal. To compensate for loss of money value on account of lapse of time and for the denial of right to utilize the money when due, interest was required to be paid. Accordingly, this Court directed payment of interest on the awarded sum from the date of application till the date of recovery. This view was followed in Mohamadi. In Kalandi Charan Sahoo, without any specific discussion on the legal issue involved, direction was issued for payment of compensation which was applicable at the material time and the same was assumed to be of Rs.4 lakhs. In that case, the accident took place in the year 2005 and the award of the Tribunal was in 2009 i.e. prior to 1-1-2017."-2-
Learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. Arvind Kumar Lall has relied upon the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of India vs. Prabhakaran Vijaya Kumar and Others, reported in 2008 (9) SCC 527 wherein the principal of strict liability has been enunciated and even in case of push or pull or jolting the onus always stay on the Railway. Further, the Hon'ble Court has also observed that the provision for compensation under Section 124-A of the Act is a beneficial piece of legislation where the Courts should consider a liberal and wider interpretation and not narrow and technical one.
Learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. Arvind Kumar Lall has further submitted that tribunal has wrongly considered that deceased who fell down from the train is not a case of Untoward Incidents as defined under Section 123 (c) (2) of the Railways Act, 1989.
Learned counsel for the respondents, Mrs. Alpana Verma has submitted that this case may be listed in the next week.
Considering the same, let the matter be listed on 02.05.2023.
(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.) Rohit/-