• Supreme Court of India: Railway Must Pay Compensation to Passengers

New Delhi, May 19, 2023 –

• The Supreme Court of India has made an important decision stating that the Railway Administration is responsible for compensating passengers in accidents, even if the administration did not do anything wrong.
• The ruling was given by a bench of judges, including Justice Surya Kant and Justice JK Maheshwari.
• They want to make sure that passengers’ rights are protected and that the Railway Administration understands its duty to provide compensation.
• The case involved a man who tragically fell from a moving train because it was too crowded.
• He suffered severe injuries, like losing his head and right hand. Sadly, he died from his injuries right away.
• The man’s family appealed to the High Court, but their appeal was rejected because the court said the man was not a real passenger.
• However, the Supreme Court disagreed with this decision, saying the lower courts made mistakes in their judgments.
• The Supreme Court reminded everyone that according to the Railways Act, the Railway Administration must compensate passengers for accidents that happen during train operations, even if it’s not their fault.
• The court also said that not having a ticket doesn’t mean a person wasn’t a real passenger.
• After reviewing the facts of the case, the court found evidence from reports like the FIR, inquest report, post-mortem report, and final report that clearly showed the man fell from the train and died tragically.
• The court noticed that the Southern Railway didn’t deny that the accident happened.
• Instead, they argued that the man wasn’t a real passenger.
• The court didn’t agree with this argument because the Railway Administration couldn’t prove that the man wasn’t a real passenger.
• When it came to deciding the amount of compensation, the court considered changes made to the Compensation Rules after the accident and the family’s claim. As a result, the court decided that the “amended rules should be used to calculate the compensation.”
• Consequently, the court increased the compensation amount to Rs 8 lakh and ordered the authorities to pay the money.

• Case Name: Kamukayi and ors v. Union of India and Ors

  Case No.: CIVIL APPEAL NO. 3799 OF 2023 (ARISING OUT OF SLP (C) NO. 17062/2022)

  Bench: Justice Surya Kant and Justice JK Maheshwari

  Order dated: 16.05.2023