1 fa933-11 rpa IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURSIDICTION FIRST APPEAL NO. 933 OF 2011 Ramdas Shankar Khakare & Ors. .. Appellants V/s. Union of India through the General Manager,Central Railway .. Respondent ..... Mr. S. S. Deshmukh for the appellants. Mr. T. J. Pandian for the respondent. ..... CORAM : A.S.OKA, J. DATE : SEPTEMBER 16, 2011. P.C.: Heard the learned counsel appearing for the appellants and the learned counsel appearing for the respondent. A claim petition was filed by the appellants invoking Section 124A of the Railways Act, 1989 for grant of compensation on account of an untoward incident. Compensation is claimed on account of death of the son of the appellants due to an untoward incident. One of the findings recorded by the Railway Claims Tribunal while dismissing the claim application is that it is not established that the deceased was a bonafide passenger. 2. To prove that the deceased was holding a valid ticket, the appellants examined a witness Mr. Amol Waman Kokane. In the 2 fa933-11 cross-examination, he deposed that that the tickets were in the custody of his friend Nivedit P. Sawant and the tickets were lost in the aftermath of the accident. However, the said Nivedit has not been examined as a witness. 3. The learned counsel appearing for the appellants prays that the appellants may be granted an opportunity to adduce additional evidence by examining the said witness. On instructions he states that the appellants will not claim interest on the compensation amount from the date of filing of the claim application till the date of decision of the Tribunal. The statement is accepted. The learned counsel appearing for the respondent has opposed the prayer for remand. 4. I have carefully considered the submissions. I have perused the pleadings and notes of evidence. The case made out by the witness Amol was that the said Amol along with six friends including the deceased had proceeded to Titwala and, he had purchased 7 return card tickets. In the cross-examination, he came out with the case that the tickets were given in the custody of his friend Nivedit and the said tickets were lost. However, the said Nivedit has not been examined. The appellants have stated that they will not claim interest on the compensation amount from the date of filing of the claim application till the date of the 3 fa933-11 decision of the Tribunal. Therefore, there will be no prejudice to the respondent if order of remand is passed. Hence, I pass the following order: :: O R D E R :: i. The impugned judgment and order is quashed and set aside. ii. Original Application No.133 of 2005 is restored to the file of the Railway Claims Tribunal at Mumbai. iii. The Railway Claims Tribunal shall give an opportunity to the appellants to adduce further evidence by examining witnesses and by producing documents. It is obvious that even the respondent will be entitled to lead evidence in rebuttal. iv. After considering the evidence which is already on record and the evidence which may be adduced after remand, the Tribunal shall decide the original application as expeditiously as possible. v. In view of the statement of the appellants, in the event the claim application is allowed, the appellants shall not be entitled to claim interest from 4 fa933-11 the date of filling of the claim petition till the disposal of the claim petition. vi. All contentions of the parties on merit are kept open. viii. Appeal is disposed of on the above terms with no order as to costs. (A.S.OKA, J.)