Sweety Kumari & Ors. vs. Union of India
Background
On 01.11.2017, Vivek Kumar, aged 35, was travelling from Ghaziabad to Chhapra with a valid ticket. Due to heavy rush he was standing near the door, and when the train reached near Dasna Flyover, Ghaziabad, he fell from the running train due to a sudden jerk and died at the spot; his ticket was lost in the incident. The Railway Claims Tribunal rejected the compensation claim brought by his family, relying on a DRM inquiry report prepared roughly one year and five months after the incident, which found no station records of the occurrence.
Decision Breakdown
The High Court held that the deceased's father's sworn affidavit that his son held a valid ticket which was lost in the fall was sufficient to discharge the family's initial burden under Union of India v. Rina Devi and Lata v. Union of India, and the Railways produced no cogent evidence to rebut it. On whether the death was an "untoward incident," the Court found the contemporaneous police panchnama and post-mortem record established the fall and death, whereas the DRM report, completed nearly 17 months late and itself noting the absence of required station forms, had little evidentiary value, citing the Court's own precedent in Bhola v. Union of India on the fatal effect of inquiry delay. On a cumulative view of the contemporaneous records, the Court held the death was an accidental fall constituting an untoward incident, set aside the Tribunal's judgment, and remanded the matter for assessment of compensation.
Lesson Learnt
A railway inquiry report prepared long after an accident, especially one lacking basic contemporaneous station records, cannot outweigh timely police and medical evidence: delay in official inquiries works against, not for, the Railways when denying compensation.