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Babita & Ors vs. Union of India

First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:7713Decided 9 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
FAO 34/2020CNR: DLHC010094032020
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri

Background

A man died after falling from a moving EMU (electric multiple unit) train while getting off at Ghaziabad Railway Station, allegedly due to a sudden, heavy jerk. His widow's compensation claim was denied by the Railway Claims Tribunal, which reasoned that no ticket was found on him and speculated that the train covered the platform edge so completely that a person could not have fallen through the gap.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court set aside the dismissal, finding the widow's and her brother-in-law's sworn testimony that the deceased had purchased a ticket (subsequently lost in the accident) was sufficient, unrebutted evidence to establish bona fide passenger status. The Tribunal's reasoning about train mechanics was found to be pure speculation with no evidentiary basis: courts must decide based on actual evidence and reasonable probability, not guesswork about exactly how an accident physically occurred. The case was remanded for computing compensation.

Lesson Learnt

Railway tribunals and courts cannot reject a genuine accident claim based on their own unsupported theories about how the accident "must have" happened: they must weigh the actual evidence on record.

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