NEW DELHI: The Calcutta high court has directed the Railways to pay Rs 8 lakh compensation to the family of a man who died after falling from a running train, holding that he was a bona fide passenger and that his death was an “untoward incident” under the Railways Act. The court set aside the Railway Claims Tribunal’s order rejecting the family’s claim. The judgment was passed on August 19, 2026.How did the man fall from the running train?According to the court order, Baptu Pal was travelling from Dasnagar to Andul with his brother Pintu Pal and their friend Samaresh Pal on April 9, 2019. The family said the train was overcrowded and Baptu Pal fell from the running train because of the heavy rush and a sudden jerk. He died on the spot.The family claimed that Baptu Pal was a genuine passenger and had purchased a railway ticket. However, the Railway Claims Tribunal dismissed their claim, saying they had failed to prove that Baptu Pal was travelling with a valid ticket or that he had fallen from the train.The family challenged the tribunal’s decision before the High Court. The Railways opposed the appeal, pointing to differences in Pintu Pal’s statements about the timing of the journey.Why did the high court believe he was a genuine passenger?Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury noted that Pintu Pal had stated that Baptu Pal purchased his ticket at about 5.47 pm and that the two brothers later boarded the same train. The court also noted that the police report mentioned seizure of a ticket.The court said families cannot always be expected to produce a person who actually saw a passenger fall from a train.“In many cases of Railway untoward incident where ticket could not be recovered from victim reliance can be placed on oral evidence. Normally a person does not dare to travel without ticket for the fear of being caught and punished. Moreover when a passenger has to face Travelling Ticket Examiner or ticket collector he is bound to produce the ticket but when the person is dead he should not be charged with the allegation that he was travelling without ticket as he will not be in a position to defend himself,” the court noted.The court said merely because a ticket is not found on a deceased passenger, it cannot automatically be assumed that he was travelling without one. It also noted that the investigating officer had not been examined by the Railways to challenge the police report.The court found that Pintu Pal’s statement before the court was consistent with his earlier statement to the RPF. It therefore rejected the Railways’ argument that inconsistencies made his evidence unreliable.The court held that the claimants had proved that Baptu Pal’s death was an “untoward incident” under Section 123(c) of the Railways Act and that they were entitled to compensation under Section 124A.It allowed the appeal and set aside the tribunal’s April 11, 2025 order.The high court directed the Railways to pay Rs 8 lakh compensation with 6 percent annual interest from the date of filing of the claim case until August 19, 2026. The amount along with interest must be deposited before the Registrar General of the High Court within eight weeks.
