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Maya Ghosh & Ors. vs. Union of India

First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:7394Decided 1 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
FAO 126/2018CNR: DLHC012651452017
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri

Background

On 21.10.2015, Rajesh Ghosh, aged about 26, was travelling from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station to Jhansi on the Dehradun-Ujjain Express after purchasing a journey ticket. Due to heavy rush in the compartment and a sudden jerk of the moving train between Tughlakabad and Okhla stations, he fell from the train and died of the injuries. His journey ticket was not recovered from his body, though old tickets and cash were found, and the Railway Claims Tribunal denied compensation on the ground that he was not proven to be a bona fide passenger. His mother and other family members appealed.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court held that the Tribunal's finding that the death was an "untoward incident" had already attained finality since it was unchallenged. On the sole surviving question, bona fide passenger status, the Court held that mere non-recovery of a ticket cannot by itself defeat a claim, relying on the Supreme Court's rulings in Union of India v. Rina Devi and Lata v. Union of India, which place only a light initial burden on claimants. The eyewitness testimony of a companion (AW-2) who accompanied the deceased to the station and helped him buy the ticket, corroborated by the mother's testimony, was found credible and uncontroverted by the Railways. The Court also cited its own precedent in Bhola v. Union of India that a ticket can simply be lost in the fall. The impugned judgment was set aside and the matter remanded to the Tribunal to assess compensation.

Lesson Learnt

In railway accident claims, families do not need to produce the physical ticket to prove a deceased or injured person was a genuine passenger: credible witness testimony about the ticket purchase is enough unless the Railways can affirmatively disprove it.

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