THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL No. 543 of 2009 JUDGMENT : 1. This appeal has been preferred by the appellant/railways challenging the order dated 11.08.2008 in O.A.A. No.59 of 2004 on the file of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Secunderabad Bench at Secunderabad and order dated 06.02.2009 in R.P. No.29 of 2009 in the said O.A.A., whereunder and whereby the claim application filed by the respondents/claimants was allowed granting compensation of Rs.4,00,000/-, and the review petition filed in the said O.A.A. was dismissed. 2. The respondents/claimants filed the O.A.A. claiming compensation of Rs.4,00,000/- for the death of one Zakir Hussain (hereinafter referred to as ‘the deceased’), who is husband of first claimant, father of claimants 2 and 3 and son of claimants 4 and 5, in an untoward incident of accidental fall from running train between Kosigi and Irangal railway stations on 5.4.2003 while he was traveling by train no.1014 Kurla Express with ticket no.40197848 from Bangalore city to Gulbarga. 3. The appellant/railways filed its reply denying the averments in the claim application and stating that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger of the train, and that there was no eye-witness to the alleged accidental fall; that train no.1014 passed the spot of incident at about 20.30 hrs, whereas the dead body was found by Keyman at about 10.00 hours on next morning, and though number of trains passed through this route in the mean time, the dead body was not noticed by any of the drivers thereof, and hence, it is not a case of accidental fall from train no.1014. 4. The Claims Tribunal, upon appreciation of the evidence on record, held that the deceased was a bona fide passenger and died in an untoward incident and accordingly granted compensation of Rs.4,00,000/-. The review filed by the railways was also dismissed. Challenging the same, the present appeal is preferred by the appellant/railways. 5. The learned counsel for the appellant contended that the respondents/claimants failed to adduce any evidence to show that the deceased had fallen from the running train and that in view of the fact that the dead body was found in the middle of the track in between two rails, it can be said that they are self-inflicted, and therefore, the order under challenge needs interference by this Court. 6. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the respondents contended that the evidence of A.W.1 is very clear that the deceased had purchased a ticket and boarded the train, and so, he was a bona fide passenger, and he died in an untoward incident of accidental fall from the train, and hence, upon considering the material on record, the Claims Tribunal rightly granted the compensation and there are no grounds to interfere with the same. 7. There cannot be any dispute that in order to claim compensation under Section 124A of the Railways Act, 1989, the first condition precedent to be proved by the claimants is that there is an untoward incident happened and in that incident, the deceased died; and the second condition is that such a person must be a bona fide passenger traveling in the passenger train. Untoward incident includes accidental falling of any passenger from a train carrying passengers. If these two requirements are satisfied, then the burden shifts to the respondent/railways to establish that no untoward incident had happened or that the case of the claimants falls under any one of the clauses mentioned in Section 124A of the Railways Act, 1989. 8. Death of the deceased is not in dispute. Dead body of the deceased was found lying in between two rails of the track. Police conducted inquest on the dead body of the deceased. They also noted ticket number in the inquest report. Objective findings of the police during the course of investigation are admissible under law. No doubt, there are no eye-witnesses to the incident, but, at the same time, the ticket which the deceased was possessing is a valid ticket to travel in train no.1014 Coimbatore-Kurla express from Bangalore to Gulbarga. If really the deceased was not a bona fide passenger, police would not have found ticket in the dead body. There is no contra evidence adduced by the railway administration to show that the ticket is invalid or incorrect. Therefore, it is established that the deceased is a bona fide passenger of the passenger train no.1014. 9. It is the contention of the learned counsel for the appellant that it is a case of self-inflicted injures by the deceased himself. Defences available to the railway administration are enumerated in proviso to Section 124A of the Railways Act, 1989. There cannot be any dispute that if the case of the railway administration falls under any one of the clauses (a) to (e) of proviso to Section 124A of the Act, the burden is on the railway administration to plead and prove that the deceased died as a result of the self-inflicted injuries. But, in the case on hand, the railway administration has not adduced any evidence to show that the deceased sustained those injuries by self- infliction. Station Superintendent is examined as R.W.1. Even his evidence would clearly go to show that the duty Keyman reported to Station Master that a male dead body aged about 30 years, was found lying at KM524/8-9 between Kosigi and Irangal railway stations. If it is a case of self-infliction, the deceased would not have purchased the ticket. Noticing the ticket by police at the time of inquest would go to show that he must have fallen from the running train. Therefore, it is clear that the deceased was a bona fide passenger of passenger train no.1014. The Claims Tribunal has considered these aspects in right perspective and granted the compensation. None of the findings is shown to be perverse or contrary to the evidence. So, there are absolutely no grounds to interfere with the impugned order. . 10. In the result, the Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is devoid of merit and is, accordingly, dismissed. No costs. --------------------- (K.C.Bhanu, J.) 11.8.2011 DRK THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL No. 543 of 2009 11.8.2011