The Delhi High Court while observing that a second-class general ticket is issued without a specific name reiterated that Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989 is a strict, no-fault liability and the exceptions to the Section are given in the proviso itself. The Court granted compensation to the Appellant as it was opined that the incident is covered under ‘untoward incident’.
Brief Facts:
The case of the Appellant is that while travelling from Delhi to Patna via train, the Appellant fell from the moving train and suffered injuries due to the untoward incident.
The Appellant contended that the Railway Claims Tribunal did not appreciate the slip issued by the Hospital in Patna proving that the Appellant was admitted to the hospital. The Tribunal rejected the claim solely on the basis that there was a delay in providing details of the said incident.
The present Appeal has been filed against the order of the Railway Claims Tribunal.
Contentions of the Respondents:
It was argued that the Appellant failed to prove that the injuries suffered by him were because of the train accident.
Observations of the Court:
It was noted that the claim application was dismissed against which an appeal was preferred by the Appellant. In the said appeal the Court had set aside the order of dismissal and remanded the matter back to Tribunal for fresh consideration. The slip issued by the Appellant was then placed on record of the Tribunal, however, again the claim application was dismissed.
The Bench observed that the Appellant was admitted to the Hospital and during that time he gave his statement to the Police disclosing the details of the accident. The contention of the Respondents that the ticket was not bearing any specific name was dismissed by the High Court as it was noted that the ticket was a second-class general ticket which is issued without a specific name.
The Delhi High Court reiterated that Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989 is a strict, no-fault liability, and the exceptions to the Section are given in the proviso itself.
The decision of the Court:
Based on the abovementioned reason, the Delhi High Court ruled that the case of the Appellant is duly proved, and the incident comes under the purview of an untoward incident. The order of the Tribunal was set aside and accordingly, the Appeal was allowed.
Case Title: Sh. Ranjeet Kumar Ram v. Union of India & Anr.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri
Case No.: FAO 317/2014
Advocate for Appellant: Adv. Ms. Aruna Mehta
Advocate for Respondents: Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan
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