On January 2, a single judge bench of the Bombay High Court led by Justice Abhay Ahuja noted that people fall from trains in India, suffer injuries, and die, further granting compensation to the family of a senior who died in a brutal accident case in 2011 after falling off a train and visiting his son. 

The railways said that there was no jerk or chain tugging that might have caused an accident, contrary to the family's assertion that a busy train had caused the fall. Additionally, as no suspicious occurrence had been recorded, the family should not be entitled to compensation under section 124A of the Railways Act.

According to Justice Abhay Ahuja, just because there was no proof of a jerk or chain-pulling incident did not mean that the appellant had not passed away in a reckless manner, as required under Section 123(c) (2).

“It is not unknown that even without any jerk or alarm chain pulling, that people fall down from the train in our country and get injured thereby or die.”

The court said after observing the body's condition from the FIR and post-mortem report that 
“If the blood stains and the flesh are seen at different places on the platform, then surely the incident has been on the railway premises…The entire body of evidence suggests that the death of Shri. Rangnath Gaikwad was due to a railway accident.”

Neerja Chaubey, an attorney for the railways, argued that no compensation could be given because it was obvious that the deceased had died from a run over rather than an accidental fall, which may qualify as a "untoward incident" under the legislation. 

The court ruled that the incident's unfavorable nature cannot in any way be refuted based on the body's condition. 

The court then overturned the decision made on August 5, 2016, by the Railway Claims Tribunal in Nagpur, and ordered the railways to pay the 65-year-heirs Rs. 8,00,000.

Case Title: KANTABAI VERSUS THE UNION OF INDIA
Citation: FIRST APPEAL NO. 145 OF 2021

Read the complete judgment on the following link:-

https://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/generatenewauth.php?bhcpar=cGF0aD0uL3dyaXRlcmVhZGRhdGEvZGF0YS9uYWdqdWRnZW1lbnRzLzIwMjMvJmZuYW1lPTIwMTgwMDAwMTQ1MjAyMV8zLnBkZiZzbWZsYWc9TiZyanVkZGF0ZT0mdXBsb2FkZHQ9MDIvMDEvMjAyMyZzcGFzc3BocmFzZT0wNjAxMjMxMTExMTY=