THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU CMA No.971 of 2011 JUDGMENT: 1 The facts in brief are that the appellants herein filed O.A.A.No.399 of 2003 before the Tribunal below. The respondent/Railway Administration had contested the said O.A.A. The Tribunal, having assessed the entire material available on record, allowed the said O.A.A. and awarded Rs.4.00 lakhs as compensation to the appellants, directing the respondent/Railways to pay the same along with interest at 9% p.a. from the date of award till the date of realization. However, for not granting interest from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of realization, the claimants filed this appeal. 2 Heard both sides. 3 There cannot be any dispute that grant of interest during the pendency of the claim petition is within the discretion of the Tribunal. But the discretion has to be exercised judiciously. It is not the case of the applicants that they were reporting ready on all the dates of adjournments and there was no fault on their part for pendency of the claim application in the Tribunal. It is also not the case of the applicants that the respondents were not reporting ready when the said claim application was pending before the Tribunal. So unless it is shown that there was no fault on the part of the applicants, for the negligence or lapses, if any, committed by them, they cannot derive any advantage. Hence the appeal is liable to be dismissed as devoid of merit. 5 Accordingly this appeal is dismissed. No costs. _____________ K.C. BHANU, J 02.09.2011 Kvsn