Bombay High Court awards ₹8 lakh compensation,17 years after teen dies in Mumbai train fall case

: Nearly 17 years after a 16-year-old boy lost his life in a suburban train accident, the Bombay High Court has granted compensation of up to ₹8 lakh to his parents, ruling that the incident was an “accidental fall from a moving train.”

A single-judge bench of Justice Jitendra Jain directed the parents to file a fresh claim before the Railway Claims Tribunal for disbursement. The court also ordered Western Railway to deposit ₹4 lakh along with 6% annual interest from the date of the accident in 2009, with the total compensation capped at ₹8 lakh to be paid within 12 weeks.

The victim, Arogyaraj Chetiyar, was travelling from Goregaon to Churchgate on June 20, 2009, when he fell from a crowded local train near Jogeshwari station. He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries later that day.

His parents had initially approached the tribunal, but their claim was rejected in 2016 after the railways argued that the boy died while crossing the tracks. Challenging this, the family moved the high court in 2017.

The court found that the tribunal failed to consider crucial evidence, including testimony from the victim’s friend, who confirmed that the fall occurred due to overcrowding in the train. It also noted that a valid ticket recovered from the deceased established his status as a bona fide passenger.

Rejecting the railways’ arguments, the court stated that the mere presence of a known crossing area near the accident spot does not prove the victim was crossing tracks at the time. It further observed inconsistencies in the tribunal’s findings and questioned reliance on outdated maps and unclear railway records.

The ruling paves the way for compensation to the family after years of legal proceedings, bringing partial closure to the long-pending case.