Parwati vs. Union of India
Background
The appellant's son, a bona fide passenger on the Andaman Express, was found dead on the tracks near Faridabad several hours after the train had departed that station. The Tribunal dismissed her compensation claim, reasoning that the long gap before the body was found, its location, and the severity of injuries indicated he had actually alighted and was later run over by a different train, not that he fell from the Andaman Express itself.
Decision Breakdown
The High Court set aside the Tribunal's order, holding that none of the three circumstances relied upon (delay in discovery, location of the body, nature of injuries) was backed by direct evidence of an alighting or a specific run-over train; no eyewitness supported the alternative theory. Applying the standard of preponderance of probabilities appropriate to this beneficial, strict-liability legislation, the Court held the claim should not have been rejected on pure conjecture, and remanded the matter for the Tribunal to assess and award compensation.
Lesson Learnt
Railway Claims Tribunals cannot reject a bona fide passenger's death claim based on speculative inferences when there is no direct evidence of an alternative cause of death; the compensation scheme under the Railways Act is to be interpreted generously in favour of victims' families.