The Delhi High Court overruled a tribunal decision that denied compensation to a passenger’s family, affirming that a Monthly Season Ticket is valid for travel in an unreserved Superfast train coach, and ordered a reassessment of the claim.
Delhi High Court Overturns Railway Tribunal Decision
The Delhi High Court, in a recent Judgement set aside the order passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal denying compensation to a passenger’s family who died after falling from an express Superfast train. The tribunal had said that a Monthly Season Ticket (MST) was not valid for travel in a Superfast train. The High Court said that there were no such instructions to show that journey in an unreserved coach of an express on an MST was not permitted.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri allowed the petition moved by the family members of the deceased after setting aside the order passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal and directed it to decide the amount of compensation. The High Court noted that the deceased was found carrying a valid MST, the validity of which was verified by the Railways themselves.
Court Findings on Passenger Rights
Justice Ohri said, ” The respondent did not place on record the relevant instructions to establish that travel by an MST holder in the unreserved coach of the Sealdah Express was not permitted.” ” Nor could the absence of a separate surcharge ticket, by itself, conclude the issue without first establishing the applicability of the permission and surcharge provisions to the train in question. The Tribunal, therefore, erred in rejecting the claim on the ground that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger,” Justice Ohri held.
The bench set aside the judgment and remanded the matter to the Tribunal, requesting it to assess the amount of compensation payable to the appellant in accordance with law and direct the authorities concerned to disburse the same within two months from the receipt of a copy of this order. For this purpose, the matter is listed before the Tribunal at the first instance on 01.12.2026.
Case Background and Incident Details
Manju Lata Verma filed an appeal against the judgment of March 22, 2017 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Principal Bench, Delhi in the claim whereby the claim petition filed by the appellants seeking compensation on account of the death of Vijay Kumar Verma came to be dismissed.
The deceased was travelling on 19.08.2015 from Old Delhi Railway Station towards Ghaziabad by the Sealdah Express. The case of the appellants was that the deceased was a daily passenger and held a Monthly Season Ticket (MST) for travel between Meerut City and Delhi and vice versa. The ticket was valid up to 12.09.2015. It was stated that, on the date of the incident, the deceased was returning from work and, as there was no train available for Ghaziabad at that time, he boarded the Sealdah Express to reach Ghaziabad, from where he intended to take another train for Meerut. Owing to heavy rush in the general compartment, he was standing near the gate. When the train reached Shahdara Railway Station, he fell from the moving train and sustained grievous injuries. He was initially taken to GTB Hospital and thereafter shifted to Batra Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on 25.08.2015.
The claim petition was dismissed on the ground that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger, as the MST produced by the appellants was not valid for travel in the Sealdah Express, being a Superfast train. (ANI)
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