The Union Of India, Rep.By Gm, Sc ... vs Kondaveeti Masthanamma And 4 ...
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     THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE P. MADHAVI DEVI


      CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL NO.496 OF 2011


                            JUDGMENT

This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is filed by South Central

Railway, Secunderabad against the Award of the Railway Claims

Tribunal in O.A.A.No.462 of 2006 dt.18.01.2011 granting

compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- together with interest @ 6% per

annum to the applicants.

2. The brief facts leading to filing of this case are that the

deceased Mr. K. Dharma Rao, a Sub-Inspector of Police at Ongole,

was travelling in the train (bearing No.2753) from Chirala to Guntur

by boarding the train at Guntur, and when the train started with a jerk,

he slipped and fell down from the train at the railway station itself and

died later in the hospital due to grievous injuries. The wife and

daughters of the deceased filed a claim before the Railway Claims

Tribunal which awarded a compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- along with

interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the Application

till the date of payment.

3. Against this award, the present CMA is filed.

4. Learned counsel for the appellant, Smt. T. Balajayasree,

submitted that the deceased was a Sub-Inspector of Police but he was

not found with any ticket while travelling on the train and though the

accident occurred on the railway tracks, there is no proof that it was

due to any fault of the railways. She submitted that before a passenger

can be awarded any compensation, the passenger must be a bonafide

passenger and since the deceased was not found with any ticket, he

cannot be considered as a bonafide passenger and therefore he cannot

be awarded any compensation for his death on the railway tracks.

According to her, the enquiry by the railways revealed that the

deceased was standing near the door and tried to get down from the

other side due to which, he fell down and sustained injuries.

Therefore, according to her, the injuries were self-inflicted injuries

and hence, the applicants were not eligible for the compensation

awarded by the Tribunal.

5. The learned counsel for the appellant submitted that since the

applicants could not furnish any evidence of the deceased purchasing

a ticket or that he was travelling with a ticket, the deceased cannot be

considered as a bonafide passenger. Further, according to her, the

statement of Lenin Babu, Head Constable to the effect that the

deceased was travelling with a ticket also was not supported by any

evidence. Therefore, according to her, the compensation should not

have been awarded.

6. There was no representation from the respondents even though

notices were served on them.

7. This Court finds that the deceased was a police officer and was

travelling along with another police personnel to Guntur and it is also

not disputed that the accident had occurred while boarding the train in

general compartment. Therefore, the confidential enquiry of the DRM

that the deceased along with Lenin Babu and other Constables was

travelling by Train No.2753 to go to Ongole from Chirala and fell

while he was trying to detrain from the moving train on reverse

direction, is not reliable. The communications with the Superintendent

of Police also confirmed that the deceased was on inspection on that

day and that the said SI attended to him and saw him off when he

boarded the train and that it was not uncommon for police officials to

be in mufti wearing normal clothes in insurgency areas while on duty.

This communication corroborates the statement of Lenin Babu that

the deceased was on duty and was travelling by train when the

accident occurred. That the deceased died because of the injuries

sustained by him in the accident is also not disputed. In view of the

same, this Court finds no reason to interfere with the award of the

Railway Claims Tribunal.

8. The Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is accordingly dismissed. No

order as to costs.

9. Pending miscellaneous petitions, if any, in this CMA shall also

stand dismissed.

___________________________ JUSTICE P. MADHAVI DEVI

Date: 15.11.2021 Svv