Railways can’t deny death compensation if journey ticket not found on body: Karnataka HC | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: Just because a journey ticket wasn’t found on the body of the deceased, it can’t be claimed the death wasn’t due to a railway accident, Karnataka high court ruled in a recent judgment.Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar made this observation while ordering a total compensation of Rs 8 lakh, inclusive of Rs 4 lakh statutory compensation and interest, to the wife and children of the late Aminasab Mulla. On April 6, 2015, Aminasab purchased a ticket at Vijayapura railway station to travel to Limbala, Maharashtra. But he accidentally fell from a moving train and died on the spot.However, on April 13, 2017, the family’s claim petition was dismissed by the railways claims tribunal, Bengaluru, on the grounds that no intimation was given to railway police about the man’s death and no journey ticket was found to substantiate he was a passenger. Challenging this, the claimants submitted that the reasons given by the tribunal for dismissing the claim weren’t correct. On the other hand, the railway authorities defended the tribunal’s decision.After perusing the materials on record, Justice Sanjeevkumar noted that documents reveal the loco pilot of the train had sent a message on April 6, 2015, through walkie talkie, stating that a male dead body was found on the track between Vijayapura and Minchinahal, and there was an FIR registered as well. In the autopsy report, the doctor stated that the cause of death was “haemorrhagic shock as a result of multiple injuries to vital organs and auto amputation”.The documentary evidence, coupled with evidence from the claimants, prove the deceased died in the train accident, the judge added.“When the death occurred and immediately the body was shifted to the hospital to conduct postmortem, during said time the ticket might have been lost. Therefore, the tribunal isn’t correct in dismissing the claim petition on the reason the railway ticket wasn’t found on the dead body. Quite naturally, the claimants hadn’t accompanied the deceased. Therefore, they couldn’t produce the journey ticket. Further, it is proved that the body was found in the railway accident as discussed above.Therefore, the claimants are entitled to compensation,” the judge observed, allowing the family’s appeal.