No ticket, no justice? HC asks CR to pay Rs8L for train death

The Bombay High Court has directed Central Railway to pay Rs 8 lakh in compensation, along with interest, to the parents of a man who died after falling from a local train in 2015. The court set aside a Railway Claims Tribunal order that had rejected their claim because the ticket for one leg of their son’s journey was missing.

The deceased, Sandeep Panda, fell from a train between Kurla and Chunabhatti stations on September 1, 2015. He was taken to Sion Hospital, where he died due to a head injury. Bhaskar Kandh Panda, 52, and Prafulla alias Pranita Panda, 48, approached the tribunal seeking compensation for their son’s death.

According to the parents, Sandeep had travelled from Kurla to Belapur for personal work. After completing his work, he decided to travel to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to meet a friend. He boarded an overcrowded train and was standing near the door when he was pushed by other passengers and fell between Kurla and Chunabhatti.

The parents maintained that Sandeep had purchased a ticket for his onward journey from Belapur to CSMT, but it was lost when he fell from the train. During the investigation, a ticket for his journey from Kurla to Belapur was recovered from his belongings.