Jharkhand High Court
Shri Krishna Prasad vs Union Of India Through General ... on 1 March, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction)
M.A. No. 609 of 2016
........
Shri Krishna Prasad .... ..... Appellant
Versus
Union of India through General Manager,
East Central Railway, Hajipur (Bihar) .... ..... Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH PRASAD DEO
(Through : Video Conferencing)
............
For the Appellant : Mrs. Chaitali Chatterjee Sinha, Advocate.
For the Respondent : Mr. Gautam Rakesh, Advocate.
........
09/01.03.2021.
Learned counsel for the appellant, Mrs. Chaitali Chatterjee
Sinha, has submitted that the appellant has preferred this appeal
against the part of the award granted by the learned Tribunal vide
judgment dated 13.08.2013 passed by learned Member (Technical),
Railway Claims Tribunal, Ranchi Bench in Case No. OA (IIU) /
RNC / 2011 / 0005 holding that the deceased was a bonafide
passenger.
Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that the date
of occurrence was 07.02.2010, the date of filing of the appeal was
27.12.2010 and on that date, in view of the Railway Accidents and
Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules, 1990, the compensation
for death was Rs. 4 lacs, but without assigning any reason, the
learned Tribunal has passed an order allowing compensation to the
tune of Rs. 2 lacs, which is contrary to the principles laid down by
the Apex Court and the table of compensation issued by the Railway
Department itself, as such, this Court may allow the appeal by
granting 7.5% interest from the date of filing of the claim application
on Rs. 2 lacs as learned Tribunal has only paid Rs. 2 lacs out of Rs. 4
lacs or Rs. 6 lacs, whichever is higher in favour of the claimants as
subsequently, the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents
(Compensation) Rules, 1990 has been amended in the year 2016
w.e.f. 01.01.2017 i.e. the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents
(Compensation) Amendment Rules, 2016, as such in view of the
recent judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of Union of
India Vs. Radha Yadav reported in 2019 (3) SCC 410 (Para-11), the
claimants are entitled for Rs. 2 lacs along with interest @ 7.5% from
the date of the claim application or Rs. 6 lacs, whichever is higher in
favour of the claimant because of subsequent amendment made in
the Rules. Para-11 of the aforesaid judgment is profitably quoted
hereunder:-
"11. ...................... For instance, in case of a death in an
accident which occurred before amendment, the basic figure
would be Rs 4,00,000. If, after applying reasonable rate of
interest, the final figure were to be less than Rs 8,00,000, which
was brought in by way of amendment, the claimant would be
entitled to Rs 8,00,000. If, however, the amount of original
compensation with rate of interest were to exceed the sum of Rs
8,00,000 the compensation would be in terms of figure in excess
of Rs 8,00,000. The idea is to afford the benefit of the
amendment, to the extent possible. Thus, according to us, the
matter is crystal clear. The issue does not need any further
clarification or elaboration."
Learned counsel for the appellant has further submitted that
even learned Tribunal has not granted interest which is applicable
from the date of filing of the claim application on the paid amount of
Rs. 2 lacs.
Learned counsel for the respondent - Railways, Mr. Gautam
Rakesh has submitted that there is technical difficulty in this appeal,
as such, this appeal may be adjourned for next week.
Considering such submission, let the appeal be listed on
08.03.2021 with condition that either Railway should contest on
merit or should make cheque of Rs. 2 lacs (Rs. 4 lacs - Rs. 2 lacs)
along with interest @ 7.5% from the date of filing of the claim
application or Rs. 6 lacs (Rs. 8 lacs - Rs. 2 lacs) to the claimants,
otherwise the Railway has to pay an amount of cost of litigation as
this litigation is kept pending by Railway unnecessarily against their
own compensation Rules.
(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.)
Sunil/-
