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Union of India v. Rina Devi

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 469Decided 9 May 2018
Civil Appeal No. 4945 of 2018
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The respondent's husband died after falling from a train, allegedly due to a rush of passengers; a witness who saw him buy a ticket and board the train filed an unchallenged affidavit, though the ticket itself was never recovered from the body. The Railway Claims Tribunal dismissed her compensation claim, holding it was a case of being "run over" rather than an "untoward incident" of a bona fide passenger, but the High Court reversed this and awarded Rs. 4 lakhs compensation, relying on the unchallenged affidavit. The Union of India appealed, but informed the Court it was interested mainly in having the law clarified rather than disturbing the High Court's result, prompting the Court to appoint an amicus and also address several recurring legal questions referred by the Railway Claims Tribunal (burden of proof, applicable compensation rate, and rate of interest).

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held it would not disturb the High Court's judgment awarding compensation to the respondent. On the broader legal questions, it held that mere presence of a body on railway premises is not by itself conclusive proof of being a bona fide passenger, but mere absence of a ticket does not defeat a claim either: the initial burden lies on the claimant, which can be discharged by filing an affidavit of relevant facts, after which the burden shifts to the Railways, to be assessed case-by-case. It also clarified that the applicable compensation amount is to be determined as per the rules in force on the date of the accident/incident (not the date of the claim or the award), and that interest should run from the date of the accident until payment at a reasonable rate, resolving the conflicting precedents the Tribunal had flagged. The appeal was disposed of in these terms.

Lesson Learnt

In railway accident compensation claims, a claimant does not need to produce the actual ticket to prove they were a genuine passenger: credible supporting facts (such as an eyewitness affidavit) can discharge that initial burden, after which it falls on the Railways to rebut it.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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