Master Rahul & Anr. vs Union Of India

. Heard Mr. R. G. Bagul, learned Counsel for the Appellants and Ms. N. G. Chaubey, learned Counsel for the Respondent/UOI.

In the present Appeal, challenge is to the Judgment and Order dated 5/10/2016 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Nagpur Bench, Nagpur in Case No. OA (Iiu)/NGP/2015/0066, whereby the Claim Application filed by the Appellants was dismissed on the ground that mother of the married daughter does not come under the category of dependent, and therefore, the proceedings filed by minor children through grandmother are not tenable. Accordingly, on the ground of tenability, dismissed the Claim Application.

The facts of the present case, as alleged in the Claim Application are that, on 12/6/2014, deceased widow mother namely, Anita Siddharth Darunde along with Appellants was travelling from Wirur to Warora with a valid journey ticket by Kazipeth-Ajni Passenger train No. 57136. According to the Appellants, deceased Anita along with Appellants at Railway Station to start their journey. After arriving the train at platform of the Railway Station, while Anita was boarding the train, the train started moving and her leg got slipped and she came under the wheel of the train and sustained injuries. Thereafter she was brought by the same train to Ballarshah and admitted at the Rural Hospital, Ballarshah and thereafter she was referred to General Hospital, Chandrapur, where she succumbed to the injuries on the same day i.e. 12/6/2014.

It is pointed out by the Appellants that present Claim Application was filed on their behalf by the maternal grandmother before the Railway Tribunal. It is the case of the Claimants that father of the Claimants is already expired. The deceased mother namely, Anita Siddharth Darunde is residing with them. At the time of filing proceedings before the Railway Tribunal, the Appellants were minor i.e. 14 years and 13 years respectively. It is also their case that the Appellants/Claimants are residing with the maternal grandmother as there is no other person remained in their family to look after them. Therefore, the proceedings were filed through maternal grandmother on behalf of minor son and daughter of deceased Anita Darunde.

The Respondent/Railway Administration has filed written statement in response to the notices issued by the Railway Claims Tribunal and raised preliminary objection about the tenability of the Claim Application on the ground that filing of the present proceeding on behalf of the maternal grandmother as a natural guardian is not permissible under Section 123(b) of the Railways Act. According to the Railway Tribunal, maternal grandmother i.e. mother of the deceased Anita do not come within the category of dependent. Hence, the present proceeding deserves to be dismissed on that count alone.

The learned Tribunal, by exercising the powers under Section 16 of the Railway Claims Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1989, whereby he is empower to dispose of the Claim Application summarily, has dealt with only the preliminary issue raised by the Respondent/Railway Administration and by holding that the maternal grandmother of the Appellants being not dependent, the proceeding cannot be filed by her on behalf of the minor children of deceased Anita and thereby dismissed the Claim Application.

In the present matter, it would be necessary to record the fact that the Claim Application was not filed by the maternal grandmother to claim any compensation in the capacity of dependent of the deceased Anita. The Claim Application was filed on behalf of the minor children of the deceased Anita before the Claim Tribunal. Therefore, it is her submission before the Railway Claims Tribunal that as in an untoward incident, mother of minor children being expired and there is no one in the family other than the Appellant as a natural guardian, there is no bar under the provisions of law for filing of the present proceedings on behalf of minor children. The bar is only that maternal grandmother being not included as dependent of deceased, she is not entitled to file Claim Application in the capacity of maternal grandmother.

The learned Railway Claims Tribunal seems to have misinterpreted the definition of Section 123(b) of Railways Act, which describes the dependency, and thereby held that the Claim Application, at the instance of maternal grandmother is not tenable. In my opinion, the learned Railway Tribunal has misunderstood the provisions of law in the present matter. If the proceedings are filed by the maternal grandmother for getting compensation to her, then certainly she is not entitled to file same proceedings. However, if the proceedings are filed by her on behalf of the minors of deceased Anita, the Claim Application ought to have been entertained on its own merits by the Claim Tribunal. In view of this, learned Railway Tribunal has committed manifest error while rejecting the Claim Application. Therefore, indulgence of this Court is necessary.

It is further pertinent to note that at present Claimants have attained the age of majority, therefore, now they can contest the proceeding before the Claim Tribunal. This is one more reason that the Appellants/Claimants, who have attained the age of majority, can prosecute their cause, and therefore, on this count also the indulgence of this Court is necessary in the matter. Resultantly, following order is passed.

First Appeal is allowed.

The Judgment and Order dated 5/10/2016 passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal, Nagpur Bench, Nagpur in Case No. OA(Iiu)/NGP/2015/0066 is hereby quashed and set aside.

The proceedings of Case No. OA (Iiu)/NGP/2015/0066 are restored on the file of the Railway Claims Tribunal, Nagpur Bench, Nagpur.

The Railway Claims Tribunal, Nagpur is directed to decide the Claim Application on its own merits, by permitting the parties to lead evidence as per the procedure incorporated in the Railway Act.

Parties are directed to appear before the Railway Claims Tribunal, Nagpur on 2^nd September, 2026.

No order as to costs.

Since the First Appeal is disposed of, pending Civil Application No 2742/2026 does not survive. The same stands disposed of accordingly.