Briefs Facts
In the matter of Kamukayi v. Union of India. On September 27, 2014, the dead arrived at Lalapettai Railway Station with his son, who had already purchased a train ticket to Karur and given it to the deceased before he boarded the train. Due to the crowded carriage and jolting of the train when it arrived at Mahadanapuram Railway Station, the dead unexpectedly fell between the platform and the track at Kilometre and suffered severe injuries, including decapitation and right-hand amputation. The deceased passed away immediately. The deceased was found dead as a result of an unfortunate railway event, according to the final report of the FIR filed at the Railway Police Station in Karur. The cause of death was shock and haemorrhage as a result of injury to key organs and head decapitation, according to the postmortem performed at the Government Hospital in Karur. After then, on July 25, 2016, a claim petition was submitted to the Railway Claims Tribunal, Chennai Bench, asking for compensation in the amount of Rs. 4 Lakhs with 12 percent interest per year from the date of the application’s submission to its realisation.
Analysis of Court order
The Supreme Court Division Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice J.K. Maheshwari accepted the appeal and determined that the decedent was a genuine passenger who was entitled to compensation under Section 124-A of the Railways Act of 1989 and the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules of 1990.
The Court read Chapter XII of the 1989 Railways Act, which addresses the Railway Administration’s responsibility for fatalities and injuries to passengers as a result of accidents. The Railway Administration is responsible for making restitution due to an unfortunate situation under Section 124A. According to the Court, the definition of “passenger” in the aforementioned Section made it clear that the term includes everyone who has purchased a valid ticket for travel on a train carrying people on any day or a valid platform ticket and suffers an unfavourable incidence.
The court further noted that the Compensation Rules, 1990 were revised on January 1, 2017, following the accident date and the filing of the claim petition on July 7, 2016. As a result, the Court decided that determining the compensation amount while considering the modified Rules was appropriate. As a result, the Court accepted the current appeal and quashed the High Court’s and Claims Tribunal’s respective judgements of 26-03-2021 and 29-06-2017. The claim application was therefore approved. The appellants were determined to be entitled to compensation in the amount of Rs. 4,00,000/- plus interest at a rate of 7% per year from the day the claim application was filed until it was realised. The respondents were also required by the court to pay the compensatory amount within eight weeks.