FAO No. 657 of 1989 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 657 of 1989 (O&M) Date of decision: 25.1.2011 Gulshan Kumar .. Appellant v. The General Manager, Northern Railway, Baroda House, New Delhi .. Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. K. S. Cheema, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. Jagdish Marwaha, Advocate for the respondent. ... Rajesh Bindal J. Son of deceased-Des Raj, who filed petition before Adhoc Claims Commissioner (for short, `the Commissioner') claiming compensation on account of the death of his father in an accident, is in appeal before this Court against the order dated 24.2.1989, passed by the Commissioner assessing the compensation at ` 12,600/-. Briefly, the facts are that 350 DN passenger train met with an accident near Shambhu on 16.12.1987. Deceased-Des Raj, father of the appellant, had boarded the train at Talwandi Bhai for Saharanpur after purchasing the ticket. In the accident, the father of the appellant along with number of other passengers died. A claim application was filed before the Commissioner, specially appointed for assessing compensation on account of deaths or injuries suffered by various passengers in the accident. Vide order dated 24.2.1989, a sum of ` 12,600/- was awarded as compensation to the appellant. It is against this order that the appellant is before this court. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that in terms of the provisions of Section 82-A of the Indian Railways Act, 1890 (for short, `the Act') and the Railway Accidents (Compensation) Rules, 1989 (for short, FAO No. 657 of 1989 [2] `the 1989 Rules'), the amount of compensation payable to the appellant on account of death of his father would be ` 1,00,000/-, as the same has been prescribed in the Schedule attached with the 1989 Rules. He further relied upon a judgment of Karnataka High Court in Union of India v. Mrs. Nanda, AIR 1999 Karnataka 335 to submit that compensation of ` 1,00,000/- awarded by the Tribunal in a similar case was upheld by the High Court. Further reliance was placed upon N. Parameswaran Pillai v. Union of India and another, AIR 2002 SC 1834 to submit that compensation, to which the claimant is entitled to, is to be considered on the date of its determination by the Tribunal and not on the date of accident. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent submitted that though in Section 82-A(2) of the Act, the maximum amount of compensation payable to the claimant was increased from ` 50,000/- to ` 1,00,000/- vide amendment effective from 4.3.1983, but correspondingly there was no amendment in the 1989 Rules. The 1989 Rules, in fact, were enforced only on 17.9.1989 in the form of the Railway Accidents (Compensation) Rules, 1989, which provided for compensation of ` 1,00,000/- in case of death. The date of accident in the present case being 16.12.1987, the appellant has rightly been awarded compensation in terms of the existing rules. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. Section 82-A of the Act provides for liability of Railway Administration in respect of accidents of trains carrying passengers. Sub- section (1) thereof provides that on account of the injuries suffered, the railway shall be liable to pay compensation to the extent set out in sub- section (2) thereof. The maximum limit has been provided for at ` 1,00,000/- in respect of any one person. The aforesaid amount of ` 1,00,000/- was increased from ` 50,000/- w.e.f. 4.3.1983. From ` 20,000/- to ` 50,000/-, the increase was carried out vide Act No. 54 of 1973. Prior thereto, the amount of compensation was merely ` 10,000/-, which was increased to ` 20,000/- in the year 1962. The Commissioner in the present case relying upon Part-I of the Schedule attached to the Railway Accidents (Compensation) Rules, 1950 (for short, `the 1950 Rules'), awarded FAO No. 657 of 1989 [3] compensation to the appellant at ` 12,600/-. The accident in the present case had taken place on 16.12.1987. Section 82-A of the Act was amended w.e.f. 4.3.1983 providing for compensation upto ` 1,00,000/- on account of death of a passenger. There was corresponding amendment vide notification S. O. No. 171 (E) dated 12.3.1984 in Schedule attached to the Railway Accidents (Compensation) Rules, 1950 providing for compensation of ` 1,00,000/- in case of death. As far as reliance on the 1989 Rules is concerned, the same was totally mis-placed as the same were framed only when new Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, which came into force, much after the date of accident. As on the date of accident, in terms of the 1950 Rules in case of death, compensation of ` 1,00,000/- was payable, in my opinion, the Commissioner in the present case committed a patent illegality in not awarding that amount to the appellant. For the reasons mentioned above, the impugned order passed by the Commissioner is modified to the extent that the appellant is held entitled to compensation of ` 1,00,000/-. He shall also be entitled to interest thereon @ 6% per annum from the date of award of the Commissioner till its payment . The enhanced amount of compensation along with interest thereon shall be disbursed by the respondent to the appellant by transferring the same in his bank account, the particulars of which shall be furnished by him with requisite proof to the Chief Claims Officer, NDCR Building, Northern Railway, New Delhi. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly. ( Rajesh Bindal ) Judge 25.1.2011 mk