The Supreme Court has ordered the Railways to pay compensation of Rs 8 lakh, along with 9 percent interest, to the parents of a man who died in a railway accident after mistakenly boarding the wrong train. The Court held that the Railways failed to prove its allegation that the victim acted negligently.
A bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria delivered the ruling while deciding a petition filed by the parents of the deceased under Section 16G of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987. Their son had purchased a valid ticket to travel from Satna to Maihar in Madhya Pradesh. However, he mistakenly boarded a train that did not stop at Maihar.
The Railways claimed that once the deceased realized the mistake, he tried to jump off the moving train at Maihar Station and suffered fatal injuries. On this basis, it argued that he was not entitled to compensation and that the accident resulted from his own negligent act.
The Court rejected this defence. It held that simply boarding the wrong train does not mean the passenger stops being a bona fide passenger. It also questioned the Railways’ theory that the man jumped from a running express train.
The bench noted that the Railways did not produce any proof to support its allegation. “No sane person could have attempted to deboard or alight from a running train, that too an express train,” the Court observed. It added that the DRM report was silent on this claim and that the Railways failed to discharge the burden of proving negligence.
The Court concluded that the Tribunal had taken the correct view in directing the Railways to compensate the family. The Railways was directed to disburse the compensation within three months.
The case is titled ShriKumar Gupta and another versus Union of India, where the parents of the deceased challenged the findings of the Railways and sought compensation for the accidental death of their son.
The matter was heard as Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No. 7188 of 2024, filed before the Supreme Court after the Railway Claims Tribunal’s order in favor of the family.
For the Petitioners:
The parents of the deceased were represented by Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, Advocate-on-Record, along with Ms. Rupali Samuel, Mr. M. Shaz Khan, Mr. Sudhanshu Tewari, Ms. Aditi Soni, Mr. Rafid Akhter, and Mr. Faizan Ahmed, all appearing as advocates in support of the appeal.
For the Respondents:
The Union of India and the Railways were represented by Mr. Brijender Chahar, Additional Solicitor General, assisted by advocates Mr. B.K. Satija, Mr. Yashraj Bundela, Mr. Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Mr. Dheeraj Jain, Ms. Mili Baxi, and Mr. Amrish Kumar, Advocate-on-Record.