In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh ...... CM No.20901-CII of 2010 and F.A.O. No.4843 of 2010 (O&M) ..... Date of decision:11.8.2011 Anuradha Sharma and others .....Appellants v. Union of India through GM, Northern Railway .....Respondent .... CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MOHINDER PAL ..... 1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest ? ...... Present: Mr. Jagdeep Singh, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. K.L. Dhingra, Advocate for the respondent. ..... Mohinder Pal, J. Civil Misc. No. 20901 -CII of 2010: For the reasons stated in Civil Miscellaneous Application No.20901-CII of 2010, which is supported by an affidavit, the same is allowed and the delay of 735 days in filing the instant appeal is condoned. F.A.O. No.4843 of 2010(O&M): This appeal has been filed by the appellants, Anuradha Sharma F.A.O. No.4843 of 2010 (O&M) [2] widow of Davinder Sharma (deceased), Varuna and Master Vikram, daughter and son respectively of Davinder Sharma (deceased) for grant of interest on compensation awarded vide judgment dated 4.3.2008 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, Chandigarh (hereinafter referred to as `the Tribunal’). The facts of the case are that Davinder Sharma was on duty as TTE on train No.4646-Dn Shalimar Express from Jammu to Ludhiana on 4.5.2005 at about 0.15 to 0.30 hours. When the train reached Mukerian Railway Station, Davinder Sharma being on duty in the said train, ensured that all the passengers of his coach had boarded the train at its departure. When he himself was to board the next coach of the train, he got slipped his hand while trying to get hold of iron rods near the gate of the compartment and he fell down in the gap in between the platform and the track and was cut into two pieces by the running train and died at the spot. On a claim application filed by the dependents of Davinder Sharma (deceased), the Tribunal awarded a sum of `4,00,000/- as compensation. But, it did not award interest on the same. Feeling aggrieved against the non-grant of interest on compensation, the appellants has filed this appeal praying that 15 per cent interest may be granted on the decreetal amount from the date of filing of original application. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and with their assistance have gone through the record carefully. It stands proved on record that the deceased died while trying to board the train at Mukerian Railway Station due to having been slipped. This incident is squarely covered within the definition of untoward incident F.A.O. No.4843 of 2010 (O&M) [3] as given under Section 123(c)(2) of the Railways Act. After appreciating the evidence, the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the appellants are the only dependents of the deceased. The Tribunal also came to the conclusion that in respect of death and injuries sustained by the railway passengers in railway accidents and untoward incidents, they are governed by the Railway Accidents & Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Amendment Rules, 1989. As per these rules a sum of `4,00,000/- is provided as compensation in the case of death of a railway passenger and held the appellants entitled to a sum of `4,00,000/- as compensation on account of the death of Davinder Sharma in the aforementioned untoward incident. So, the Tribunal has rightly awarded the compensation to the extent indicated above. However, the appellants shall be entitled to claim interest on the amount of compensation at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition i.e. 2.5.2005 till the date of the award and further interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum if the payment is not made to the appellants within 60 days of passing of the award till its realization. The impugned award given by the Tribunal is modified to the extent indicated above. This appeal stands disposed of accordingly. August 11, 2011. (Mohinder Pal) Judge *hsp*