SUNIL HATI vs GM ECOR

Pagelof9 OANo.88/2019 BEFORE THE RAILWAY CLAIMS TRIBUNAT BHUBANESWAR BENCH Case No.

OA (lIU)/88 /2079 Coram: Hon'ble Sri Ajoy Kumar BeherarMember (Technical), RCT/BBS Date of incident: 01/08/2018 Date of Registration: 79/07 /2019 Date of Judgment: 21/03/2024 Claim Amount: Rs.

8,00,000/- In the matter of Sunil Hati aged about 26 years S/oBalbasut Hati At: G audachandia, PS : Junagarh Distt: Kalahandi Odisha Versus Union of India representedthrough It's GeneralManager, East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar Applicant Respondent Appearance : for the Applicant : Sri B.Beura, Advocate for the Respondent : Sri K.C.

Mahapatra, Ld.

Standing Counsel JUDGEMENT 01.

This present claim apphcation has been filed by the injured Applicant Sunil Hati wder section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal's Act, 1 987 , claiming compensation of Rs.8,00,000/- (Rupees Eight Lakhs) alongwith 1 2o/o rnterest from the date of filing of the claim appLication from the Railway Administration on account of injury sustained by him allegedly in an untoward incident, involving fall from running trarn.

02.

Brief facts of the case: In the original claim Application on 01 /08/2078, while the injured Sunil Hati was travelling by Haral<handa Express train from Berhampur to Bhubaneswar rarlway station, on the way just before Bhubaneswar raTlway station, due to jerk of the train supported by push and pull of co-passengers inside the compartment, he accidentally fell down from the said running train and sustained injuries on both legs.

It is stated that after thefall,he was immediately shifted to CapitalHospital, Bhubaneswar and thereafter referred to SCB medical college, Cuttack.

It is further stated that during Page 2 of 9 OA No.

88/2019 course of his treatment at SCB medical college, the doctor amputatedboth his legs below knee. elow knee.

With regard to the journey ticket, it is stated that on the date of incident, he was travelling as abona fide passengerbut the journey ticket was lost while shifting from the spot to hospital.

03.

Respondent's Reply: On receipt of notice Respondent Railway appeared andhave filed written reply to the claim applicatton along with DRM's investigation report and, subnritted that the averments made in the claim petition is completely false, fabricated andnot within the relevant provision of section 123 (c) and 724 (A) of the Railways Act.

It is stated thatthere is no eye witness to the allegedincident andthe on-duty trainguard neither noticed nor received any information regarding any fallen down passenger during his duty period.

With regard to the journey ticket, it is stated that the injured is not abona fide passenger andduring course of enquiry he could not produce the journey ticket and could not say anything about the cost of the said ticket.

With these facts and circunrstances, the Respondent railway sought for dismissal of the claim application.

04.

Applicant's Evidence: The injured Applicant in support of his pleahas filed the copy of discharge certificate and bed head ticket of SCB ruedical college, Cuttack, disability certificate, information of GRP, aadhar card, bank details, photograph in support of injury and got himself examined before the bench as AW 7 and he was cross examined by the Ld.

Counsel for the Respondent.

05.

Respondent's Evidence: The Respondent Railway on the other hand have filed DRNI's investigation report along with the enquiry report of SI/RPF/BBS, statement of railway personnel and other enquiry related documents in connection with the alleged incident.

The Respondent railway did not produce any witnesses before the bench in connection with the alleged incident.

06.

Issues: From the pleadings of the parties, the following issues were framed for determination:- 1 . tion:- 1 .

Whether the Appli cant as a bona fide passen ger for his j ourney from Berhampur toBhubaneswar railway station by Hirakhand Express on 01 /08/2018?

2.

Whether the injured Applicant sustained injury is an untoward incident as defined U/s 123 (c) (2) of the railway Act 7989?

3.

Whether the Respondent is exempted from payment of compensation to the Applicant u/ s 724 (a) of the Railways Act, 7989?

N --\-\ Page 3 of 9 OA No.88/2019 4.

To what relief the Applicant is entitled to?

07 FIND INGS: Ihave carcfully gonethroughthe pleadingsof the parties,material made avallable on record, evidence adduced on behalf of the Applicant as well as Respondent andheardthe arguments of both the counsels.

My findings on the aforesaid issues are as under; - 7.1 Issue Nos.

1, 2 & 3: These issues being inter-related are taken up together for discussion and decision.

The pleading of the injured Applicant is that during course of his journey by the Hiral<hand express train from Berhampur to Bhubaneswar rullway station, he accidentally fell down from the said train and sustained injury on both legs.

It is stated that during course of treatment at SCB medtcal college, the doctor amputated both his legs below the knee.

In this connection he has filed an affidavit in evidence wherein he deposed that during course of journey from BerhanTpur to Bhubaneswar railway, just before Bhubaneswar railway station, the said Hiral<hand express train experience a sudden jerk, for which hebecame rmbalanced and accidentally fell down and sustained severe injury on his person.

He further deposed that just after the incident, he was imnrediately shifted to Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar by local people in an auto Rickshaw.

With regard to journey ticket, it is stated that!<boarding the tratn he had purchased journey ticket which was lost along with the loss of bag in which the said ticket was kept.

The Ld. t.

The Ld.

Counsel for the Applicant during his argument submittedthatit is a clear case of accidental fall that occurred within the railway premises at Bhubaneswar railway station and the said incident comes within the scope of an untoward incident as mentioned under section 723 (c) (2) of the Railways Act 1989 for which Respondent railway is responsible andliable to pay compensation.

7.2 Whereas the stand of the Respondent is that the injured Applicant was not at all a bonafide passenger andthere is no direct witness to the alleged accidental fall.

It is stated that the on-duty train guard of Hirakhand express train during his duty hours did not notice or receive any information from any corner regardingfallingdown of any person.

There was no ACP nor any extra detention of the said train on the date of incident as alleged.It is moreover, stated that no journey ticket was found in possession with the injured and the plea of loss of ticket as alleged in the OA is completely false.

The Ld. counsel for the Respondent during his argument submitted that the injury sustained by the victim in which he lost both his legs has occurred due to his own criminal negligence Page 4 of 9 OA No.

88/2019 for which Respopdent rallway is protecte d under section 724 A of the Railway Act and not liable to pay compensation.

He further stated that no station dtary entry has been made and no journey ticket was recovered in possession with the injutedrwhich clearly established that the injured was not at al| travelling in the train and the injury as alleged in the oA was caused due to a reason which was other than fall from train and this cannotbe denied.

He sought for dismissal of the claim application accordingly' T .g The averments of the Applicant is that the incident in which he lost both his legs had occtffed during course of his journey from Berhamplfi to Bhubaneswar railway station by the Hfual<handexpress train andthe medical documents avarlable in the case, such as bed head. bed head.ticket of SCB medical college, Cuttack clearly reveals that the injury sustained by the victim was caused due to a fall from train.

Although there is no station draryentry with regard to the allegedincident made atBhubaneswar rallway station and no infornration was avallable with the on duty ttarn guard,but the incident of fall and injury as pff documents available in the case record of the caprtal hospital and the SCB Medical College Hospital clearly reveal that the case has a history of fall from running trainon 01,/s/18at l0AMand thattheinjurywastheoutcomeof thefallfromthetrarn cannotbe denied.

7.4 There is no evidence on record to establish that injury was causeddue to an involvement while the injured Applicant was trespassing on the tarlway tracks, but going by the history of the case as depicted in the medical records of SCB medical college, Cuttackitisevidentthatthisis acaseof fall fromarunning trarn.

While,theviewof the Respondent is that there is absolutely no recor d of any incident such as this one occuring at the Bhubanesw ar station,,but I would like to correlate the timing as depicted in the scB medical college,s bedheadticket where it is indicated that the case has a history of fal1 from atrainon 1.8.18 at 70 AM.

The allegedtrain Hirakhand express had reached Bhubaneswar station on pF No.Z at oB.zShrs and thereafter thevictim hadbeenallegedly shifted by localpeople immediately to the Capital Hospital.

Although the timings of the incident does not exactly match with the 10 AM time as indicated in SCB Medical College,s record,but given the fact that it was after the atrival of the Hirakhand express and the injured person was first taken to the Capttal hospital before gettrng referred to scB Medic al college,there appeats to be some gap in the communication in the exact timings of the incident. incident.

I feel a benefit of doubt canbe given in this case that the incident could be the time of reaching the capital hospital in Bhubaneswar aftet the incident at Bhubaneswar station.

Going purely by the attending circumstances of this Page 5 of 9 OA No.

88/2019 case, it does appear tohave apreponderance of probability that the case was that of afall from running train.

In fact, it cannot be inferred that the injury sustained by the victim was a dellberate act of injury that caused the loss of both his legs and,it would be absurd, to presume that this was done dellberutely for the sake of getting compensation from the Railway.

Considering the fact and circumstances of the case, I am of the view that this was not a case of criminal act of negligence or an injury which was self-inflicted so as to bring it under the umbrella of exceptions of Sec 124 A of the Railways Act.

7 .5 With regard to the ticket, it is pleaded by the injured applicantthatbeforeboarding the trainrhe had purchased the journey ticket which was lost in the alleged, incident.

Looking at the nature of injuries, in which the injured has lost in both legs, first shifted to nearest capital hospital andthereafter shifted to SCB medical college, Cuttackrpossible loss of ticket as alleged in the OA in course of the shifting cannotbe ruled out.

Thus, in view of above discussion ,l am of the view that the injured applicant is a bona fide passenSer andthe injury caused to the victim was on account of an accidental fall fronr the running train and the said incident is an ('untoward incident', as defined, under section 723(c) (2) of the Railways Act 1989 for which Railway Administration is hable to pay compensation u/s 124 A of the Railways Act 1989.

Therefore, both these issues are decided in favour of the clatntant.

7.6 Issue No.

Issue No.

4 : So far as quantum of compensation is concernedrlhave gone through the medical documents such asbed head ticket and discharge certificate of SCB medical College, which clearly shows that there was auto amputation of both legs for which he had undergone treatment in the said hospital from 01 /OS/2018 to Z1/OB/ZO1g. .

Looking at the nature of injuries, sustained by the Apphcantr l am of the view that the said injuries comes at Sl.

No.3 of Part II of schedule for Compensation payable for death and injuries as prescribed in the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents (Conrpensation) Rules 1990 for "for double amputation through leg or thigh or amputation through leg or thigh on one side and loss of other foot' a sum of Rs.

8,00,000/- has been provided.

Hence, the injured Applicant is entitled to get total of the Applicant.

Hence ordered.

8.

ORDER 8.1 As regards disbursal of the amount of award, it may be seen that inthe case of Geeta Hon'ble \ Devi Vs Union of lndia, Delhi High Court has observed as under:- comPensation of Rs.8r00ro00/-(Rupees Eight Lakh) along with g% interest from the date of incident i.e. (01108/2018) till the date of payment.

This issue is answered in favour Page 6 of 9 OA No. gg/2019 5' As Regards Atnendntent to the Railway Accidents and t-Intoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules, I ggo.

5' 1' Many of the claintants are drawn froru rural areas with low levels of literacy and lower levels of ruaktng appropriate decision for the ase of atttounts guaranteed under the awards' There are several instances of their exploitation by niddlenten and touts operating in the lietd.

The scope for such exploitation is itself one of the incentives for fonrcnting bogus clainr, fabricated docuntents and duplicate claims in different Benches of the Tribunal for the sanrc cause of action.

The auailability of bulk funds in the nante ot'an ill-infornrcd claitnant is also a cause for exploitation. loitation.

A scherue for protection of the aruount due to such a clairuant is the need of the hour.

The Hon we Htgh court went on to lay down the ru ode of paynten t and in parsuan ce of the orders passed by the Dethi High Court, Governruent of India has issued a Notification of Srd,/une, 2o2o amending Railway Accidents and (_Intoward Inciclents (compensation) Aruendntent Rules, 2020, adding RuIe s which rcads as under; 5.

Mode ofpayruent: 5' 1 The Tribunal may, in order to protect the suru awarded to the claitnant, hauing due regard to the illiteracy or other disabling factors intpairing the judicious use of such sunt, issue directions for disbursing the award in ternts of annuities, fixed deposits or other suitabre ruode as shail sub-serve justice.

5'2 If any of the claimants is a ninor or person of unsound mind, the Tribunal ruay give liberty to the guardian acl literu to use the interest accruals on the deposit that shall be made during the ruinority for ruaintenance.

5'3 Nothing in this RuIe shall limit the power of the Tribunal to nuke ntodifications of the ruode of disbursal lbr reasons to be stated in writing clepending on the exigencies liquidation of any corpus created for annuity or pren,atare closute of fixed deposit, for the benefit of the crairuant.

5'4 The orders dated 2Ist April, zol z, 24th May,zol g and 6th Noveruber, zor g of Honble High Court of Delhi in FAo No.

22,/zoIS and cM Application No.

4501/2015 in Geeta Deui vs Llnion of India, relating to clisbursentent of contpensation shall be read as part of this RuIe.

The disbursements will be made in the following mannerrkeeping in view the broadgurdelines laiddownasper theJadgmentof DelhiHighcourtinFAo No.22/2015 and cM Application No.

4sor / zor,s in Geeta Devi vs union of India.

Page 7 of 9 OA No.

88/201 9 8'2 The injured Applicant is permitted to withdraw loo/o of the awarded amount i. amount i.e Rs'80,000/- (Rupees Eighty Thousand only) along with interest which will be deposited in his savings Bank A/c opened' in any Nationalized Bank near his place of permanent residence' To ensure that the Applicant is not subjected to any kind of exploitatio n at the hands of unscrupulous agents and touts operatingin the field due to the availability of bulk funds available to hinr out of the award,, the balance amount of Rs zr2orooo/- (Rupees Seven Lakh twenty thousand only) shall be split into 72 fixeddeposits of Rs.10,000/. (Rupees Ten Thous and) and, invested for a period of 1 to Z 2 months each in the ascending order.

Thebankshall release the amount with accumulated interest upon maturity of these deposits to the credit of the bank account of the injured Applicant. such amodeof disbursementisfeltjustifiedkeepinginview theadvantageof amonthly return with interest out of such a scheme for the Applicant.

However, the Applic ant willbe at liberty to seek withdrawal of the funds held in the fixed deposits in the event of any exigencies, for which he will have to apply specifically citing reasons and, the Tribunal may consider modifications in the ntanner of disbursements under clause S.S of the Gazette of India Notification dated, Og.06.2020.

It is often seen that unscrupulous elements target the bulk funds available to poor Applicants out of the award, and insist upon the Applicants to open their bank account neat to the place of residence of such middlemen or touts, but not near to that of the Applicants thenlselves.

Applicants are coerced into submission that they have shifted their place of residence to a place which is other than their place of permanent residence' The place of residence for the purpose of opening of the bank account is deenred as the place where the Applicant normally resides and this is best proven by the address as depictedin documents such as the Aadhaar card.,thevoter,s identity card. and. tatron card. tron card.

The entire rationale for opening of the bank account in the place of their normal residence as depicted in such documents is defeated if the same is allowed to be opened at any other location, since apatt from inconvenience for operation of the bank account, it also becoures a stepping stone for exploitation at the hands of unscrupulous eletrtents.

Therefore, in order to safeguard the Applicants from any kind of exploitation atthehands of unscrupulous elements operatingin the field, it is imperativethatthe bank account is operated close to the place of residenc e and,not opened at any location which is far away from the place of their residence while being near the place of residence of such persons intending to exploit them by targetingthe bulk funds available with them out of the award.

Page 8 of 9 OA No.

88/2019 8'3 The Respondent Railway is directed to deposit the amoun t awarded with the Registry of this Bench within a period, of 30 days from the dateof commun icationof this awatd' The Applicant will be eligible for interest @ go/o from the date of incident i.e. (01/08/2018) till the actualdeposit beforethe Bench.

8'4 The claimant is directed to open individualsavings bankaccount in aNationalized, Bank neat the place of his permanent residence.

The bank is directed not to permit any joint nanle(s) to be added in the savings bank acco.rnt or fixed deposit accounts of the claimantsi.e. the saving bankaccount of the claimants shall be anrndividualsavingbank account and not a joint account.

8.5 The concernedbankis directed not to issue any chequebook (s) and, /or debit card. (s) to the claimants.If the samehave already been issued,,thebank is directed to cancel the sanre befote the disbursement of the award amount and the bank shall freeze the account of the claimant so that no debit card. is issued in respect of the accountof the claimants from any other branchof the bank. the bank.The bank should make an endorsement on the passbook of the claimant to the effect that no cheque book and,/ or debit card.have been issued to the claimant and shall not be issued without the permission of RCT.

The concerned bank of the claimant is directed to permit the claimant to withdraw money from their saving bank account by nleans of a withdrawal form only.

The claimants are ditected to produce the copy of the order passed by the RCT before the concer ned,bank whereupon thebankis directed to make an endorsement on the passbook.

8.6 The original fixed deposit shall be retained,by the bank in safe custody.

However, the statement containing FDR number, FDR amount, d,ate of maturity and, maturity anrount shall be furnished by the bank to the claimants.

The monthly interest to be ctedited by ECS in the saving bankaccount of the clairuants near the place of their residence.

The maturity amount of the FDRs be credited by ECS in the saving bank account of the claimants near the place of their residence.

The bank shall not grant any loan, advance, withdrawal or pre-mature disch arge on the fixed deposit without permission of the RCT.

8.7 If the claimant is entitled to exemption of deductionof TDS, he shall submit form 1 5 G or fornt 1 5 H (for senior citizen) to the presenting Officer of the responden t railway (as applicable under sub section (Z) of Section i9 of the Railway Ciaims Tribunal 4ct,7987), so that no TDS maybe deducted.

Page 9 of 9 OA No.

88/2019 9.

Accordingly, the claim application filed by the injured Applicant stands disposed of.

The Registry is directed to send the certified copy of this judgment directly to the Applicants in his residential address.

Pronounced in the open tribunal today on 21/03/2079.

Fix.

29/05/2024 for compliance on the points as mentioned in the judgment above in order No.

32 Member (Technical) Date 21/03/2024 MILWAY CLAIMS TRIBUNAL BHUBANESWAR BENCH Nature of application - Number oA (llu) No. (llu) No.

88 of 2019 in the case of Sunil Hati versus- UOI /GM / East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar Notes the Registrar 32 21/03/24 ent pronounced vide separa allowed on contest on its merit for Rs. g,OO,00O/_ (Rupees Eight Lakh only) in favour of the Applic ant along with interest @ g% per annum from the date of incident i.e. on ot/o8/zotg till the date of payment without costs.

The Respondent Railway is directed to deposit the awarded amount within BO days from the date of communication of this award with the Registry of this Bench.

Fix 29/05/2024 for compliance on the following points: _ For the Claimants: - 1) Production of Bank Account details opened near his prace of perma..ent residence. passbook must contain the necessary endorsement by the Branch Manager of the concerned bank that ((No chequebook and/or debit card has been issued.,, If it has arready been issued, there should be endorsement that ,,cheque book and/or debit card has been canceled and the same shalr not be issued without the permission of the RCT." The endorsement must be signed and stamped by the bank official.

2) Production of Aadhaar card and, pAN card or any other appropriate I.D.Card.

3) Two sets of photographs and specimen signatures of the craimants.

For the Respondent Railway The Respondent Railway shall place on record the proof of deposit of the awarded amount with upto date interest along with a calculation sheet.

Free copy ofthis order be seryed to both sides (A.K.

Member (Technical) Dt:21,/O3/2024