IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD TUESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN PRESENT HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL No.33 OF 2008 Between: Union of India, Rep. by The General Manager, South Central Railway, Secunderabad. ..... Appellant AND Smt. Siresangandla Jagadishwaramma & 3 others ..... Respondents AND X.O.B.J.C.M.A.(SR).No.2023 OF 2011 Between: Smt. Siresangandla Jagadishwaramma & 3 others ..... Cross Objectors/Respondents AND Union of India, Rep. by The General Manager, South Central Railway, Secunderabad. ..... Respondent/Appellant The Court made the following: HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL No.33 OF 2008 AND X.O.B.J.C.M.A.(SR).No.2023 OF 2011 COMMON JUDGMENT: This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal, under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 (for short, “the Act”), filed by the appellant/respondent against the order, dated 12.10.2007, in O.A.A. No.178 of 2004, on the file of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Secunderabad Bench, Secunderabad, whereunder and whereby, the application filed by the respondents/applicants claiming compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- with interest was allowed by awarding a compensation of Rs.4,00,000/-. 2. The cross objections, under Order XLI Rule 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, is filed by the respondents/applicants against the same order for not granting interest from the date of application till the date of award. 3. Heard. 4. The appellant herein is the respondent and the respondents herein are the applicants in the application. For the sake of convenience, the parties hereinafter will be referred to as they are arrayed in the application. 5. The brief facts that are necessary for the disposal of the present appeal may be stated as follows: The applicants filed the application claiming compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- with interest, for the death of a person by name Serisenagandla Narayana Rao (hereinafter referred to as the deceased), aged about 70 years, an agriculturist, resident of Karivena, Kurnool District, in an alleged untoward incident that happened while travelling by Tungabhadra Express from Kurnool to Secunderabad near Kacheguda Railway Station on 03.05.2004. The first applicant is the widow of the deceased, the 2nd and 3rd applicants are the sons and the 4th applicant is the daughter of the deceased; that on 03.05.2004, the deceased along with his cousin brother by name S. Narsing Rao, purchased two II class journey tickets from Kurnool to Secunderabad, boarded Tungabhadra Express at Kurnool Railway Station starting at about 3.00 p.m. and reached Kacheguda Railway Station at about 7.30 p.m. When the train left Kacheguda, the deceased got up from his seat holding a green bag and went near the door of the compartment telling his cousin brother also to get ready to get down at Secunderabad Railway Station that would be coming shortly. He went to the door followed by his cousin brother, opened the door of the compartment with his left hand while holding the bag with right hand and at that time, he lost balance due to train jerks, was unable to control himself and when he was about to fall, his cousin brother who was behind him, tried to catch him from falling, but he also lost control and both of them fell down from the running train resulting in the death of the deceased and multiple injuries to his cousin brother. They further stated that the II class ticket purchased by the deceased was lost in the accident. 6. The respondent filed his written statement, dated 26.07.2005, denying that the deceased was a bona fide passenger and that he fell down from Train No.7608 Tungabhadra Express on 03.05.2004 and died, as his dead body was noticed only at about 7.00 a.m. on 04.05.2004 near up advance starter signal of Kacheguda Railway Station towards Secunderabad Railway Station, whereas the said train passed the place of occurrence on 03.05.2004 at 7.30 p.m.; that if he had fallen down from the train on 03.05.2004, he would not have gone unnoticed by the co-passengers of Train No.7608 Tungabhadra Express or by the drivers of other trains that passed on that track from 7.30 p.m. on 03.05.2004 till 7.00 p.m. on 04.05.2004; that the Inquest Report submitted by the applicants and marked as Ex.A-2, mentions that the deceased while crossing the railway track at KM No.6/29-27 near up Advance Starter of Kacheguda Railway Station was hit by a train; that even as per Ex.A-3-Post Mortem Examination Report, the death would have occurred between 4.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. on 04.05.2004 and not at 7.30 p.m. on 03.05.2004 due to fall from Tungabhadra Express train; that it is not a case of death in an untoward incident of accidental fall from train but due to hit by a train while crossing the track and, therefore, prayed to the Tribunal to dismiss the application stating that they are not liable to pay any compensation. 7. Basing on the above pleadings, the Tribunal framed the following issues: “1. Whether the Applicants are dependents of the deceased? 2. Whether the deceased was a bona fide passenger of the train Tungabhadra Express, traveling from Kurnool to Secunderabad on 3.5.2004? 3. Whether the deceased died as a result of an untoward incident of accidental fall from the said train? 4. Whether the Applicants are entitled to claim compensation of Rs.4,00,000/-? 5. To what relief?” 8. During trial, A.Ws.1 to 6 were examined and Exs.A-1 to A-11 were got marked on behalf of the applicants. On behalf of the respondents, R.Ws.1 and 2 were examined and Ex.R-1 was marked. 9. The Tribunal after considering the evidence on record came to the conclusion that the deceased died as a result of an untoward incident of accidental fall from train No.7608 Tungabhadra Express on 03.05.2004 near Kacheguda Railway Station and granted compensation of Rs.4,00,000/-. 10. Learned standing counsel for the appellant (Railways) contended that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger travelling with a valid ticket, that during the course of inquest, the police did not find on the body of deceased any valid ticket to travel in the train and that the applicants did not produce any evidence to show that the deceased died in an untoward incident and, therefore, the applicants are not entitled for any compensation. 11. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the respondents contended that A.W.4, who is a Reserve Police Constable of Kurnool Town, saw the deceased and A.W.1 purchasing the ticket at Kurnool and that the evidence of A.W.1 is very clear that the deceased fell down accidentally and sustained injuries and died and, therefore, the deceased died in an untoward incident and the possibility of losing the ticket after the accident cannot be ruled out and that the opinion of the doctor is not a conclusive proof to decide the time of death and that the possibility of the deceased surviving even after falling from the train for more than 12 hours cannot be ruled out and for that reason, the Tribunal rightly granted compensation and there are no grounds to interfere with the same. 12. The two essential conditions which are required for claiming compensation under Section 124 (A) of Railways Act, 1989 (for short, “the Act”), are: 1. There must be an untoward incident; 2. The person travelling in the passenger train with a valid ticket died or sustained injuries. Untoward incident means and includes the person falling from the running train and sustaining injuries. 13. The initial burden is on the applicants to establish that the deceased died in an untoward incident and that he was a bona fide passenger travelling in a passenger train with a valid ticket. The Keyman noticed the body of the deceased at the end of platform in Kacheguda Railway Station and he immediately informed the same to the Station Superintendent who in turn informed about the incident to the Police. The Police registered the case and investigated into. During the course of investigation, the Police secured the presence of panchayatdars to hold inquest. The opinion of the Inquest Mediators would clearly go to show that the deceased while trying to cross the track near the starter signal appears to have sustained injuries and died. The purpose of holding inquest under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, is to ascertain the apparent cause of the death of the deceased which was due to head injuries while he was crossing the railway track. Therefore, at the earliest point of time, the police and the Inquest Mediators gave opinion that the deceased might have sustained those injuries while crossing the railway track. No doubt, the opinion expressed by the Inquest Mediators is not an evidence so as to rely upon it, but at the same time, a finding of fact has been recorded in Ex.A-2-Inquest Report. That finding of fact has to be appreciated with that of the other evidence available on record to know whether the deceased had really fallen from the running train or he sustained the injuries in coming into contract with a train while crossing the railway track, or some other train dashed against the deceased. 14. It is the specific case of the applicants that A.W.1, the deceased, and another person after purchasing the ticket, boarded Tungabhadra Express on 03.05.2004 at about 3.00 p.m. On the same date at about 7.00 p.m. or 7.30 p.m., the deceased fell down accidentally from the train and sustained those injuries and died on the spot. A specific plea has been taken in the application by the applicants that after the deceased falling down from the train, he died immediately. There was oral evidence to that effect, but that evidence is contradictory to the medical evidence. The doctor who conducted necropsy on 05.05.2004 at about 10.00 a.m. opined that the deceased died as a result of the head injury and the approximate time of death is about 24 to 30 hours. If that is taken into consideration, the death of the deceased might have taken place in between 5.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. on 04.05.2004. 15. The learned counsel for the respondents contended that the opinion of the doctor cannot be taken as a conclusive proof so as to determine the time of death. No doubt, science has not developed so as to conclude that a doctor can estimate the actual time of death of a person. That is the reason why the approximate time of death has been given by the doctor so that the Court can rely upon the evidence of the doctor who conducted post mortem examination. Even in cases of this nature, law does not prescribe a fact to be proved by conclusive proof. It is only a proof of preponderance of probability. If that is taken into consideration, the probable time of death would be between 5.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. on 04.05.2004. But the specific case of the applicants is that the deceased died at about 7.00 p.m. or 7.30 p.m. on 03.05.2004. So, the applicants have not come to the Court with clean hands and the claim application appears to have been filed with a view to gain wrongfully saying that deceased was a bona fide passengers. If really the deceased and A.W.1 were bona fide passengers having purchased the tickets to board the train, certainly A.W.1 would have produced the ticket before the Court. Similarly, the Police would have noticed the ticket when they conducted inquest on the dead body of the deceased. That is the reason why when the Police conducted inquest, they did not find any ticket. Therefore, the number of the ticket has not been mentioned in Ex.A-2-Inquest Report. So, all these circumstances do suggest that no incident of this nature, as alleged by the applicants, has taken place on the date and time as mentioned in the application and these aspects have been completely overlooked by the Tribunal. 16. The learned counsel for the respondents placed a strong reliance on the decision reported in UNION OF INDIA REP. BY ITS GENERAL MANAGER, S.C. RAILWAYS, SECUNDERABAD VS. BORRA VIJAYALAKSHMI AND OTHERS[1] wherein it is held thus, “‘Untoward incident’ is defined in Section 123(c) of the Act. As per the definition, an accidental falling of any person from the train carrying passengers is an ‘untoward incident’. The compensation on account of untoward incident is dealt with by Section 124-A of the Act, which reads as under: 124-A. Compensation on account of untoward incident:- When in the course of working a railway an untoward incident occurs, then whether or not there has been any wrongful act, neglect or default on the part of the railway administration such as would entitle a passenger who has been injured or the dependant of a passenger who has been killed to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the railway administration shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, be liable to pay compensation to such extent as may be prescribed and to that extent only for loss occasioned by the death of, or injury to, a passenger as a result of such untoward incident. Provided that no compensation shall be payable under this section by the railway administration if the passenger dies or suffers injury due to- (a) suicide or attempted suicide by him; (b) self-inflicted injury; (c) his own criminal act; (d) any act committed by him in a sate of intoxication or insanity; (e) any natural cause or disease or medical or surgical treatment unless such treatment becomes necessary due to injury caused by the said untoward incident. Explanation:- For the purposes of this Section, “passenger” includes,- (i) a railway servant on duty; and (ii) a person who has purchased a valid ticket for travelling, by a train carrying passengers, on any date or a valid platform ticket and becomes victim of an untoward incident." 17. There is no dispute about the above decision. The question is whether the applicants, prima facie, proved the case that the deceased died in an untoward incident. The evidence adduced by the applicants is totally inconsistent with the medical evidence on record. No doubt, the medical evidence is the opinion evidence, but at the same time, even if the opinion evidence is taken into consideration, the probable time of death is not fit into the case as advanced by the applicants. Therefore, when the medical evidence completely rules out the possibility of happening of the incident as suggested by the applicants, then the only course left open to the Court is to accept the medical evidence as the applicants themselves filed Ex.A-4-Death Report of the deceased, which can be relied upon. Once it is relied upon, the approximate time of the death would be about 24 to 30 hours, but in this case, the death has not taken place within the approximate time as mentioned by the doctor. Therefore, within all probability, the death would have taken place in between the time as mentioned by the doctor in Ex.A-4-Death Report of the deceased. Therefore, the applicants miserably failed to establish that the deceased died in an untoward incident. Similarly, the applicants failed to establish that the deceased was a bona fide passengers travelling in a passenger train with a valid ticket. Even assuming for a moment that the evidence of A.Ws.1 and 4 is to be accepted as true and correct that having purchased the tickets at Kurnool and boarding the Tungabhadra Express, the death has not taken place at about 7.00 p.m. or 7.30 p.m., while they were travelling in the Tungabhadra Express. Therefore, without considering these aspects, the Tribunal granted compensation and the findings recorded by the Tribunal are wholly untenable and devoid of merit. The observation of the Tribunal is that though the deceased having fallen from the Tungabhadra Express at about 7.00 p.m. or 7.30 p.m. on 03.05.2004, appears to have been survived till next day morning. This is not the case of either of the parties. The Tribunal cannot make out a third case without there being any evidence. Therefore, the time of death as mentioned by the doctor is not fit into the evidence adduced by the applicant. The Court can draw inferences basing on the evidence available on record. But the findings must not be based upon surmises or conjectures because they do not have a role to play in an application seeking compensation under Section 124A of the Act. It is not the case of the applicants that the deceased, after falling from the running train, survived for 12 hours or 10 hours, but it is the specific case of the applicants that after the deceased falling down from the train, he died on the spot. Therefore, the observation of the Tribunal is unwarranted and untenable. Therefore, the findings are not based upon the proper appreciation of evidence on record. Therefore, impugned order is liable to be set aside. 18. In the result, the impugned order, dated 12.10.2007, in O.A.A.No.178 of 2004, on the file of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Secunderabad Bench, Secunderabad, is set aside and the Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is allowed, accordingly, without costs and the cross objections are dismissed. ______________ (K.C.BHANU, J) Dated: 16th August, 2011. KL HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL No.33 OF 2008 AND X.O.B.J.C.M.A.(SR).No.2023 OF 2011 16th August, 2011. KL [1] 2005 (2) ALT 86