Mumbai: In a relief, 17 years on, to parents who lost their son to a fall from a crowded Mumbai local near Jogeshwari station in June 2009, Bombay high court on Monday directed Western Railway to shell out Rs 4 lakh at 6% yearly interest since the accident, with a cap at Rs 8 lakh. Justice Jitendra Jain, pronouncing the judgment, said the Railway Claims Tribunal had “gravely erred” in not considering crucial evidence of his companion seeing him fall off the train due to the rush while the train was heading towards Churchgate.Ordinarily, for failure to appreciate evidence, HC said the case would have been remanded to the tribunal, but since it was of 2009, to avoid any further delay, Justice Jain examined the crucial evidence himself and held it indicated the death was by an accidental fall from a moving train.Rayappa and Victorya Chetiyar, the parents, in 2017 challenged before the HC a rejection of their claim by the Railway Claims Tribunal. The tribunal held he was not a bona fide passenger and it was “not an untoward incident” that could under the Railways Act entitle the parents to compensation.The commuter died within 6 hours of his fall in a civic hospital. He had two tickets from Goregaon to Churchgate in his pockets and hence the tribunal didn’t apply its mind in holding him to be ticketless, the HC concluded.The Railways’ case, which the tribunal accepted, was that he died trespassing while crossing tracks. It was a common spot for doing so, and the body was found under the train on a fast track, the WR argued. The HC found the WR was on the wrong track and rejected its submissions for want of evidence.“Merely because the spot is common” for people to cross tracks, doesn’t mean the commuter had too, said the HC, citing lack of eyewitnesses. The Railways didn’t mention the train number, and the HC said when train movements are regulated minutely and the body was found near Platform 3, there was no reason why the train number could not be given. The court directed the parents to make a claim to the Railways and the money be disbursed in 12 weeks.
