SC goes extra mile to ensure widow gets compensation from Railways after 23 years

For a tragedy-struck widow, who lost her husband in a train accident in 2002, the Supreme Court went the extra mile to ensure that she is duly compensated by the Railways after years of struggle.

Saynokta Devi’s husband Vijay Singh had a valid railway ticket from Bakhtiyarpur station to go to Patna by the Bhagalpur-Danapur Intercity Express on March 21, 2002. Still, he accidentally fell down from the running train at the originating station itself, due to heavy rush inside the compartment and died instantly.

What followed was a legal battle for the next two decades, as Devi’s claim for compensation was turned down by the Railway Claims Tribunal and the Patna High Court on the ground that the deceased was of unsound mind. Aggrieved by the high court’s order denying her claim, she, through her lawyer Fauzia Shakil, approached the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court in 2023 rejected the reasoning given by the Railway Claims Tribunal and the Patna High Court and set aside the orders, terming them “completely absurd”, “imaginary”, and “contrary to the undisputed facts on record”.

“What emerges is the fact that the appellant’s claim was not accepted by both the Tribunal and the High Court solely on the ground that the deceased was of unsound mind and he was knocked down by an unidentified train,” the Supreme Court had noted in its order of February 2, 2023.

A bench headed by Justice Surya Kant had observed that if the deceased had been of unsound mind, it would have been nearly impossible for him to purchase a valid railway ticket for travel to Patna and could not have tried to board the train all by himself.

The Supreme Court directed the Railways to pay the widow within two months a compensation of `4 lakh with six per cent interest per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition. But to her bad luck, her local counsel could not convey her the order as he passed away.

The railways, on the other hand, tried to comply with the order and wrote different letters to Devi but could not get any response from her for want of a correct address. The Railways, unable to give the compensation with interest, knocked at the doors of the Supreme Court expressing its helplessness in complying with the order of February 2, 2023, granting the woman compensation.

It said the Patna High Court was also informed on March 21 that the amount had already been sanctioned but the woman had not conveyed the bank details to receive the compensation. A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and N Kotiswar Singh noted that the woman, owing to her family circumstances, has moved from the place where she was residing at the time when the unfortunate accident took place.

In order to trace the woman to provide her relief, the Supreme Court asked the Principal Chief Commercial Manager of Eastern Railway at Kolkata to issue a public notice in two leading newspapers (English and Hindi) having wide circulation in the region where she has been residing giving full details of acceptance of her claim by the Supreme Court and that such compensation could be received by her by producing the requisite documents including Aadhar Card and details of the bank accounts, upon further verification by her counsel.

It also directed the Senior Superintendent of Police of Nalanda and the SHO, of Bakhtiyarpur, police station to physically verify the whereabouts of the woman and if they are able to trace her, inform her about the acceptance of her claim and her entitlement to receive the awarded amount.  The bench directed the SSP, Nalanda to send a compliance report in this regard within four weeks.

The Supreme Court also took the help of the Bihar State Legal Services Authority and the secretary of the district legal service authority was asked to personally visit the place where she was last reported to be residing, make an inquiry about her whereabouts and verify her current status and seek a report in four weeks. Earlier this month, Additional Solicitor General Brijender Chahar told the Supreme Court that after great efforts made by the Railways and the local police, it was found that the name of the village of the woman was wrongly recorded, due to which all the communications that were sent to her were never received by her.

He said, finally, the local police were able to find the correct village and they have also successfully located the woman along with her family members. The bench directed the Railways’ authorities to make payment of the compensation amount to the woman with the assistance of the local police and directed the local SHO to accompany the Railway officials and ensure that the compensation amount is deposited in her bank account.

“The Sarpanch and other elected members of the Gram Panchayat will identify the appellant (woman), and for this purpose, the Railways’ authorities may also obtain copies of some official documents that may be required to be placed on record. Thereafter, a compliance report be submitted to this court,” the bench said as it directed for a hearing of the matter on November 24.