Bombay HC Rules Passenger’s Fall While Re-Boarding Moving Train As ‘Untoward Incident’, Orders Compensation

Mumbai, March 7: The Bombay High Court has held that the death of a passenger who fell while attempting to re-board a moving train after briefly getting down at a station amounts to an “untoward incident” under the Railways Act, 1989, making his family eligible for compensation.

High court sets aside tribunal order

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Justice Jitendra Jain, on March 4, set aside the order of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Mumbai, which had rejected the compensation claim on the ground that the incident did not fall within the statutory definition of an untoward incident.

Passenger fell while attempting to re-board train

In August 2011, a man who was travelling with his wife and children from Pune to Tandur on the Hyderabad Express on a reserved ticket. When the train halted at Chittapur station during the night, the deceased got down on the other side of the platform to attend nature’s call.

As the train began to move, he attempted to re-board but lost his balance and fell under the wheels, suffering fatal injuries.

Family challenged tribunal decision

The tribunal, on April 30, 2018, had rejected the family’s claim, holding that the incident did not qualify as an untoward incident. His family filed an appeal before the HC.

Court cites definition under railways act

The high court noted that Section 123(c) of the Railways Act defines an untoward incident to include “the accidental falling of any passenger from a train carrying passengers”.

“In the instant case, it is not disputed that the deceased while trying to re-board the moving train fell down and came under the wheels, which resulted in severe injuries leading to his death,” the court said.

Court observes passenger was bona fide traveller

Justice Jain observed that the fact that the passenger had got down on the wrong side of the platform did not take the case outside the scope of the provision.

“Whether the passenger who got down on the wrong side for attending to nature’s call is not an issue before me. The death occurred while re-boarding the train,” the court said.

The judge also noted that the deceased was a bona fide passenger travelling with a valid ticket and that police records described the death as an accidental fall.

Observing that the Railways had not claimed the case to be one of suicide, the court said: “There is a thin line between negligence and taking undue care.”

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Railways directed to pay compensation

The court, while setting aside the tribunal’s order, directed the Railways to pay Rs 4 lakh compensation with 6% interest from the date of the accident, subject to a cap of Rs 8 lakh, within 12 weeks of the claimants applying with the relevant orders.

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