Married Daughter Of Deceased Also Entitled To Compensation Under Railways Act: Bombay High Court

A married daughter of a victim of a railway accident would also be entitled to compensation under the Railways Act even though she may not be dependent on him, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has held.

"If Section 123(b)(i) of the Railway Act is perused, it is the definition of dependant wherein daughter is included. There is no qualification either married or unmarried daughter. As such claimant is entitled for compensation," said Justice M.S. Jawalkar.

The court relied on the SC judgement in Manjiri Bera Vs. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. wherein the apex court held that the married daughter was entitled to compensation being a legal representative, and non-dependency cannot be a ground to deny her compensation.

The petitioner Mina Shahare, a 45-year-old labourer from Gondia district of Maharashtra, had approached the HC against a 2013 order of the Railway Claims Tribunal dismissing her claim for Rs.8,00,000/- along with interest from the date of accident.

According to Shahare's complaint, her father was travelling from Gondia to Wadsa by a passenger train in 2011 and due to the rush in the train he fell off and died instantly. He was standing near the door of the coach when the incident happened, as per the petition. 

The deceased was a ticketless traveller, and died due to his own negligence, the railways administration argued. It further submitted the alleged incident is not covered under Section 123 & 124 of the Railways Act, 1989. It further said that Shahare was married and therefore not entitled to any compensation.

Relying on the SC judgement of Rina Devi, the bench held that the absence of a ticket cannot be a ground for denial of compensation. Moreover, if the deceased died by falling off the train his family cannot be expected to produce a ticket, the bench observed while relying on another judgement.

"As such there cannot be said to be negligence on the part of deceased when it is strict liability of railway. In view of the above referred judgments, it has to be inferred that deceased was a bonafide passenger and he fell down from running train was an untoward incident," the bench observed directing Railways to pay the petitioner compensation of Rs. 8 lakh.

Case Title: Sm. Mina vs Union of India

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Bom) 389 

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