RAILWAY CLAIMS TRIBUNAL,MUMBAI BENCH
180/P, DEMELLO ROAD, 19/T WIG-WAM
MUMBAI-400001

 BEFORE THE RAILWAYCLAIMS TRIBUNAL,

MUMBAI BENCH, MUMBAI

   COARM:  Shri Hari. D. Gujrati,Hon?ble Member (Technical)

                        Shri Alok  Upasani, Hon?ble  Member (Judicial)

                     CLAIM APPLICATION No:OA (II u)/MCC/0194/2019

1.                  Smt. Hemaben W/o Chandarlal Basantani

    Aged  47 years,

     Wifeof the deceased

2.                   Sneha D/o.Chandarlal Basantani

Aged  24 years,

Daughter of thedeceased

3.        Shri Mahendra S/o. Chandarlal Basantani

           Aged about 21 years

           Son of the  deceased

All Residing  at : G/2, Atrey Green,

Sardar Nagar,Ahmedabad City,

Gujarat- 382475.                                                        ?APPLICANTS

Versus

Union ofIndia,

Throughthe General Manager,

Central   Railway,

C.S.M.T, Mumbai-400 001.                                                      ...RESPONDENT

Appearances:

Mr. V.N.More , Advocate for Claimant                     

Ms.Ankita Rele, Advocate for Respondent:

                                                                   Date of Institution: 19.02.2019

                                                                   Date of Judgement: 23.10.2023

JUDGEMENT

1.         This Claim Application is filed by theapplicants under section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 read withSec. 123 (c)(2) & Sec. 124 - A of the Railways Act, 1989 for compensationarising out of an alleged untoward incident occurred  on 04.11.2018 leading to the death of   Shri Chandralal S/o. Chainlal Basantani(hereinafter referred as deceased) The Applicants  claimed that they are dependents of  the deceased. Applicant No. 1  is the wife of the deceased, Applicant No. 3is the Daughter of the deceased and Applicant No. 3 is the son  of the deceased

The factual matrix of the matter innut-shell is as below:

2.         It is stated that, the Chandralal S.o.Chainlal Basantani, aged 50 years, resident of   Ahmedabad  city, state- Gujarat was engaged in business. On 04.11.2018, deceased  boarded inthe  Second class  Railway compartment of  an unknown local train from Vidyavihar Railwaystation to Churchgate Railway station via Dadar  Railway station on thestrength of Second Class Railway  ReturnTicket bearing No. AFA 07875398.  Whenthe said train  started from   P.F. No. 2 of  Vidyavihar Railway station,due to sudden jerk of the train, he accidentally fell down from the train anddied on the spot. The  Applicants   have   statedthat the Second Class Railway Return Ticket bearing No. AFA 07875398 was recovered from the possession of thedeceased  and the  GRP had mentioned about the recovery of thesaid Railway ticket  from the possessionof the deceased. But the  GRP personneldid not handover the said journey Railway ticket  to them. It has been contended that thedeceased was a bona-fide passenger and died in an  untoward incident  which occurred on 04.11.2018.   

3.         In response to notice, Respondent? Railway Authority appeared and opposed the claim application. The Respondentfiled Written  statement and  also produced on record the DRM report basedon investigation conducted by IPF/RPF/Kurla accompanied with other relevantpolice papers marked as ?R-1?. It has been stating that on 04.11.2018 at about18.50 hrs, CNC/Vidyavihar issued Memo to GRP/Kurla, Shri Kavtaekar, P.C. No. 1264, stating that one unknownperson while alighting on platform No. 02 sustained serious injuries.  On receipt of the Memo, GRP/Kurla  alongwith the hamals attended to the spot the incident and  escorted the victim to Rajawadi Hospital,Mumbai for medical treatment wherein on duty doctor examined and declared himdead.  The   GRP/Kurla has filed a report and set theinquiry into motion vide  Accident DeathReport No. 296/2018 under section 174 of  Cr. PC dated 04.11.2018. The City PoliceAdgaon, has mentioned about the recovery of Second Railway Ticket dated 04.11.2018, valid from Vidayavihar Railwaystation to Churchgate Railway station in their report but the copy of the same  is not available on record CNC/ Vidyavihar,mentioned in his memo that the deceased had fallen down from  the train whilealighting from the train and GRP/Kurla, mentioned in his report that  the deceased had fallen down from an unknownlocal train and sustained serious injuries. . It is submitted that the incidentoccurred due to negligence on the part of victim  Shri Chandralal S/o Chainlal Basantani only,and therefore, the Railway Administration is not responsible to compensate theClaimant, hence the application be rejected.

4.         Inview of pleading of both parties, and relevant documents produced on record,this Tribunal framed the following issues  on 02.06.2021 for just and proper adjudicationof Claim Application on merit within ambit of law.    

1.   Whether the deceased  was travelling on valid Railway ticket

    and was a bonafide  of the train,in question, at the relevant

    time?

2.  Whether the Applicants prove thatthe death of the deceased

     had occurred as  a result of anuntoward incident as alleged in

     the Claim Application and the present case is  covered under 

     section 123 (c) (2) of the Railways Act, 1989?

3.  Whether the Applicants prove that they are the dependents of

      the deceased within the meaning under section 123 (b) of the

      Railways  Act, 1989?

4.   To what order/Relief?

5.     The issues No. 1 & 2   relating to, deceased being bonafide passengerof the train and the death of the deceased had occurred as a result of anuntoward incident were decided in favour of the Applicants in consideration ofadmission made by the Respondent, vide  Tribunal?sorder dated 16.02.2022.The Applicants  were  directed  to   appearwithin two weeks from the  date of theorder dated 16.02.2022 before the Tribunal and to lead evidence for determiningthe identification/dependency of the Applicants and disbursal of amount

6. In this case the Applicant  Mahendra S/o Chandarlal Basaantani alreadyfiled his  Affidavit on 15.09.2021and  deposed  before this Tribunal. In  pursuance of  the orders, the Applicant No. 3  Shri Mahendra S/o. Chandarlal Basaantani, son  of the  deceased Chandralal S/o Chainlal Basantani, steppedinto the witness-box and filed  the  relevant documents comprising:

 7,       Ld. counsel for the Applicants has mentionedthat there has been  a delay of  one years, seven   months and 7 days in  securing presence of  Applicant from  the stipulated time allowed by the Tribunal due to  arranging necessary documents. In  view of this he prayed  for condonation  of delay in appearance of theApplicants.  Considering thecircumstance, as prayed  for by  the Ld. Counsel for Applicants  delay is condoned.

Based on submissionof Ld. Counsel for Respondent, since issue No.1 & 2 and quantum ofcompensation amount have already been  decided  by  this Tribunal order dated 16.02.2022 . Therefore, only Issue No. 3 and Issue No. 4 arebeing deliberated  and decided.

ISSUE NO. 3

8.     TheApplicant No. 3 Shri  Mahendra S/oChandarlal Basantani categorically deposed in his  Affidavit dated 15.09.2021 by way ofexamination-in-chief that  the ApplicantNo. 1 Hemaben W/o. Chandarlal Basantani is the wife of the deceased, ApplicantNo. 2 Sneha D/o. Chandarlal Basantani  isthe daughter of the deceased

and ApplicantNo. 3  Mahendra S/o. Chandarlal Basantaniis the son of the deceased and they are the dependants of victim ChandralalS/o. Chainlal Basantani.  The Applicantshave produced Ration card, Aadhar card and PAN card of the Applicants alongwithAffidavit which have been marked as Exhibit A1  to A-3 establish array of dependents of thedeceased.  It is not in dispute that theApplicant No. 1 is the wife of the deceased, Applicant No. 2 is the  daughter of the deceased and Applicant No. 3is the son of the deceased The respondent did not put this factual aspect incontroversy. Therefore, there is no impediment to hold that both of  the Applicants are the dependents of deceased ofvictim  Chandralal S/o. ChainlalBasantani as contemplated under sec. 123 (b) of Railways Act, 1989. Hence, we answerthe issue No.3  in affirmative.

ISSUE NO. 4

9      In consideration of  this Tribunal order dated 16.02.2022 andIssue No. (3)  being decided in favour ofthe Applicants, the aforesaid Applicants being Dependents of the deceased ChandralalS/o. Chainlal Basantani are entitled for compensation amount of Rs. 8,00,000/-(Rs. Eight Lakh only) plus interest @ 9%  from the day of incidence till the date oforder dated 16.02.2022 deciding the award.

Hence, we passthe following order

                                                    O R D E R

1.     The Claim Application filed under section 16of Railway Claims Tribunal Act 1987, is hereby allowed.

2.     The Respondent shall pay Rs.8,00,000/- (RupeesEight Lakh only) along with interest @ 9% to the Applicants fromthe date of incident till 16.02.2022  (dateof this Tribunal order) due to demise of Chandralal S/o. Chainlal Basantani.

3.     In this regard,  necessary direction to deposit the decreetalamount  by Respondent with RCT/Mumbai hasalready  been issued by this Tribunal videorder dated 16.02.2022, which is reproduced as under

      ?Respondent  is directed to depositthe  decreetal amount of Rs. 8,00,000/-(Rs. Eight Lakh only/-) plus 9% per annum interest in the account of Additional Registrar, RCT Mumbai, within 30days from the date of receipt of  Certifiedcopy of this order (dated 16.02.2022). In case of   default, the  Respondent shall liable to pay interest @ 9%  per annum on the decreetal amount for eachdelayed   days after 30 days of certified copy of theorder?.

4.     In this case Applicant No. 1 Smt. Hemaben W/o. ChandarlalBasantani, has lost her husband and has long life ahead. Applicant No. 2  & 3 are major children. As per theguidelines delineated by the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) vide Notificationdated 3^rd June, 2020 under GSR 347 (E) which came into effect from 1^stday of January, 2020, after considering the status of the Applicants and toprotect the amount from being

frittered away, theamount of Rs. 8,00,000/- (Rupees Eight lakhs only) shall be disbursed in thefollowing manner:

                                 i.          Applicant No.1  Smt. Hemaben W/o. Chandarlal

Basantani shall be permitted to withdraw an amount of                    Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees FiftyThousand only ) and Applicant                No. 2  Sneha D/o. Chandarlal  Basantani andApplicant     No. 3 Mahendra S/o.Chandarlal Basantani, each shall be permitted to withdraw an amount of Rs.15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand only ), in their respective Savings BankAccount through NEFT/RTGS, from the total awarded compensation amount of Rs.8,00,000/- (Rupees Eight Lakh only) plus interest.

                         ii.                The balance amountof Rs 7,20,000/- (Rupees Seven

Lakh Twenty Thousand only) plus accrued interest, be keptin the name of Applicant No. 1 Hemaben W/o. Chandarlal Basantani, Applicant No.2Sneha D/o. Chandarlal Basantani and  Applicant No. 3 Mahendra S/o. ChandarlalBasantani in Annuity/Fixed Deposit account in any Nationalised Bank locatednearer to the permanent residential address of Applicants, in the mannerdescribed below.

                            i.           The Applicants are directed to open an individual SavingsBank Accounts in any Nationalized Bank located nearer to the place of their permanentresidence. For Annuity Deposit, this Savings Accounts will be linked with Annuity(term) Deposit Account on similar line as of MACAD (Motor Accident ClaimAnnuity (Term) Deposit Account).

                         ii.           The Bank is hereby directed not to permit any jointname(s) to be added in the Savings Bank Accounts or Fixed Deposit Accounts ofthe Applicants i.e. the Savings Bank Accounts of the Applicants shall be anindividual Savings Bank Account and not a Joint Account. The concerned Bank isfurther directed not to issue any Cheque Book and/or Debit Card in the name ofApplicant for the above referred S.B. account. If the same are issued, theconcerned Bank authority is requested to take step to cancel/revoke the samebefore making any payment of awarded amount to the Applicant. Moreover, theconcerned Bank shall take care for not issuing any Debit Card relating to abovereferred S.B. account of the Applicant by any other branch of the Bank. TheBank shall put an endorsement on the Passbook issued in favour of Applicant tothe effect that no Cheque Book and/or Debit Card shall be issued to the Claimantswithout the permission of this Tribunal.

                       iii.The concerned Bank of the Claimants is directed to permit theClaimants to withdraw money from their Savings Bank Accounts by means of awithdrawal form only. The Claimants are directed to produce the copy of thisorder before the concerned Bank for requisite endorsement in the Passbooks.

                       iv.The FDR/MACAD, the Original Fixed Deposits receipts shallbe retained by the Bank in safe custody. However, the statement containing FDRnumber, FDR amount, date of maturity and maturity amount shall be furnished byBank to the Applicants. The maturity amount of the FDR?s be credited by ECS inthe Savings Bank Accounts of the Applicant operated in the Nationalised Banklocated nearer to the place of permanent residence of Applicant No. 1.

                         v. The Bank shall not grant any loan, advance,withdrawal  or pre-mature discharge onthe Annuity Deposits without permission of this Railway Claims Tribunal.

                       vi. The Claimants are  directed to produce theoriginal Bank Passbook with the necessary endorsement as well          Aadhaar Card and PAN Card before theAdditional  Registrar, RCT, Mumbai. TheADR shall take the following documents on record from the Claimants beforereleasing the awarded amount.

(a)               Details of the Bank Accounts of the Claimantslocated

          nearer to the place of their permanent residence with

          necessary endorsement. 

(b)             Aadhaar Card and PAN Card or any other 

          appropriate ID card for their identification  and

(c)        Twosets of photographs and specimen signatures

          of the  Claimants.

 6.  Thereshall be no order as to cost.

 7. This order is the part of the order dated16.02.2022.

 8.  The certified copy of this judgement be givento  Applicants   

      free  of cost

 9. Accordingly, the Claim Application stands disposed of in

    above  terms. 

           Judgement pronounced on  23^rd  October,  2023, in open    

          court.

       (ALOK UPASANI)                                            (HARID. GUJRATI)

            Member  (Judicial)                                              Member(Technical)