Jharkhand High Court
Kuber Devi vs Union Of India on 8 February, 2021
Author: Kailash Prasad Deo
Bench: Kailash Prasad Deo
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction)
M.A. No. 552 of 2019
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1. Kuber Devi
2. Bhagirath Kumar Mahto ...... Appellants 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 Appellants : Mr. Rajesh Kr. Jha, Advocate For the Respondent : Mr. Gautam Rakesh, Advocate
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06/Dated: 08/02/2021.
Heard, learned counsel for the parties.
Learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Jha has submitted that claimants namely, Kuber Devi and Bhagirath Kumar Mahto have been preferred the instant Miscellaneous Appeal against the judgment dated 17.09.2019 passed by learned Member (Technical) Railway claims Tribunal, Ranchi Bench in Case No.OA(IIU)/RNC/191/2018 whereby the learned Tribunal has decided the issue no.2 with regard to the bonafide passenger in favour of the applicants/claimants as the deceased (Kunjlal Mahto) was travelling by Jodhpur Howrah Superfast Mail Express Train No.12308 DN on 23.02.2018 with a valid 2nd class Mail/Express Superfast ticket from Bikaner to Parasnath which was recovered by GRP/Koderma and kept it along with official record.
No appeal has been preferred by the Railway against the finding given by the learned Tribunal with regard to the bonafide passenger by deciding issue no.2 in favour of the applicants.
So far issue no.3 with regard to death of the deceased in an untoward incident is concerned, the learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that only on the basis of DRM's report submitted by the Investigating Officer, which is contrary to the materials brought on record, the learned Tribunal has decided the issue against the applicants. As per the DRM's report deceased got down at his destination station from the south side door of the compartment to reach his home speedily. At that time Train No.13307 UP, which was passing through the Hirodih station, the deceased came under that train and got run over. The deceased is himself -2- responsible for the accident. There is no fault of the Railway Administration.
Learned counsel for the appellants has further submitted that deceased has not got down at Hirodih station as the deceased has purchased ticket from Bikaner to Parasnath. The Hirodih station is situated before Parasnath railway station, in between the same there are ten railway stations and the deceased was not a resident of Hirodih rather he was resident of Village- Alkhari Khurd, P.O.- Govindpur Kala, P.S.Bishnugarh, District- Hazaribagh, as such, the reason assigned in the DRM's report, on the basis of report of Investigating officer, is not acceptable as erroneous finding has been recorded by the learned Tribunal, as such, impugned order may be set aside and the appeal may be allowed by granting compensation to the tune of Rs.8 lacs or Rs.4 lacs along with interest @ 7.5% from the date of filing of the claim application i.e. 05.11.2018 whichever is higher in favour of the appellants, in view of the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of Union of India vs. Radha Yadav, reported in 2019(3) SCC 410 in para 11 which is quoted hereunder:-
"11. This issue raised in the matter does not really require any elaboration as in our view, the judgment of this Court in Rina Devi (supra) is very clear. What this Court has laid down is that the amount of compensation payable on the date of accident with reasonable rate of interest shall first be calculated. If the amount so calculated is less than the amount prescribed as on the date of the award, the claimant would be entitled to higher of these two amounts. Therefore, if the liability has arisen before the amendment was brought in, the basic figure would be as per the Schedule as was in existence before the amendment and on such basic figure reasonable rate of interest would be calculated. If there be any difference between the amount so calculated and the amount prescribed in the measure of compensation. 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 Railway has opposed the prayer and submitted that LCR has already been received and counter-affidavit has been filed by the Railway. Para 8 of which is reproduced hereunder:-
"8. That written statement was filed. In the DRM report filed, it has come that the deceased got down from the south side door of the compartment to reach his home speedly. At that time he was knocked down by the train no.13307 UP which was passing through the Hirodih Station. The deceased came under that -3- train and was got run over.
The deceased was himself responsible for this incident. There was no fault of Railway Administration.
It was a self-inflicted injury due to the above act of the deceased as in the enquiry report it has come the deceased was hit by train while he was crossing the railway track.
It is submitted that crossing the track is an offence under Railway Act 1989. Though he was not prosecuted for such offence but does not mean that the deceased had not committed such offence. Where the deceased had committed such offence as a result of which if he sustained such injury causing his death, he cannot be allowed to claim compensation out of it.
In view of the above the appellant was not a victim of a untoward incident rather as claimed he would had sustained a self-inflicted injuries which resulted in his death."
After hearing, learned counsel for the parties and on the basis of materials brought on record, it appears that there is no dispute that deceased was travelling by Jodhpur Howrah Superfast Mail Express Train No. 12308 DN on 23.02.2018 with a valid 2 nd class Mail/Express Superfast ticket from Bikaner to Parasnath which has also been brought on record by the Railway and the learned Tribunal has also considered the deceased to be a bonafide passenger, but the DRM's report says that deceased was getting down from the south side door of the compartment at Hirodih railway station is not acceptable to this Court for the reason that deceased was resident of Village- Alkhari Khurd, P.O.- Govindpur Kala, P.S. Bishnugarh, District- Hazaribagh, which is nearer to Parasnath. The Hirodih railway station is before Parasnath and in between these stations there are ten railway stations, as such, if Hirodih being a station where train used to stop a person or passenger will not purchase ticket of far away station by paying that tariff.
Secondly, the reason, which has been assigned in the DRM's report is based upon the report submitted by the Investigating Officer is not in consonance with any material brought on record, as such, this Court considers that the finding recorded by the learned Tribunal with regard to the untoward incident is fit to be set aside.
Accordingly, the judgment dated 17.09.2019 passed by learned Member (Technical) Railway claims Tribunal, Ranchi Bench in Case No.OA(IIU)/RNC/191/2018 is hereby set aside.
Thus, the instant Miscellaneous Appeal is allowed. Railway is directed to indemnify the compensation @ Rs.8,00,000/-
-4-or Rs. Rs.4,00,000/- with interest @ 7.5% in favour of the claimants from the date of filing of the claim application i.e. 05.11.2018 till the date of actual payment in view of the judgment Radha Yadav (Supra).
Let LCR be sent down forthwith at once.
The compensation amount shall be apportioned between the claimants in equal share.
(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.) sandeep/R.S-