Verified journey ticket and surrounding circumstances establish bona fide travel and an untoward incident.

Amarjeet Singh was allegedly travelling from Bareilly to Mukarian, Punjab, on 7 July 2023 with a valid railway ticket. After he failed to reach his destination, his family lodged a missing-person report.

On 8 July 2023, an injured person was found near KM No. 1365/05–06 at ShahzadNagar yard; he subsequently died and was identified by his father and brother.

A journey ticket bearing No. AAA76961041, issued at Bareilly on 7 July 2023 at 18:19 hrs. for travel to Mukarian, was subsequently recovered from the deceased’s belongings and verified by the Railway authorities.

The appellants claimed that the deceased had fallen from a train and died in the incident.

The Railway Claims Tribunal dismissed the claim application, principally relying on the absence of the ticket during the first jamatalashi, the appellants’ inability to identify the specific train, the ticket’s validity only until midnight on 7 July 2023, and the inference that the deceased had been “run over” while on the track.

The appellants challenged that decision under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987.

1. Whether the deceased was a bona fide passenger despite the journey ticket having been recovered during a subsequent, rather than the first, jamatalashi, and despite the specific train not being identified.

2. Whether the deceased’s death arose from an “untoward incident” under the Railways Act, 1989, or whether the evidence established that he was run over while walking on the railway track.

3. Whether any exception under the proviso to Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989, was established so as to exclude the Railway’s statutory liability.

The Court exercised appellate jurisdiction under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987.

Under Section 124-A of the Railways Act, 1989, death or injury resulting from an “untoward incident” attracts statutory compensation, subject to the exceptions in its proviso, including suicide or attempted suicide, self-inflicted injury, a criminal act, intoxication or insanity, and death or injury from a natural cause.

The Court relied on Union of India v. Rina Devi , (2019) 3 SCC 572, for the principle that recovery and verification of a railway ticket can establish bona fide passenger status and that excessive insistence on proof of the precise circumstances of ticket production is unwarranted.

It also relied on Laxmi & Anr. v. Union of India , 2026 SCC OnLine Del 2478, for the principle that the absence of eyewitness evidence or identification of a specific train is not determinative in railway accident claims, which may be proved through surrounding circumstances.

The Court held that the Tribunal had failed to consider the material fact that the ticket was subsequently recovered from the deceased’s belongings and duly verified by the Railways.

This was materially different from a case based only on an uncorroborated assertion that a ticket had been purchased or lost; accordingly, the absence of the ticket during the first jamatalashi did not negate bona fide passenger status.

The ticket’s apparent validity until midnight on 7 July 2023 did not conclusively exclude travel during the evening or intervening night, particularly because the Railways produced no TSR or other evidence showing that no train towards Punjab was available after 18:19 hrs. on 7 July 2023.

The finding that the deceased had been “run over” was based on inference rather than positive evidence, as there was no statement from a Loco Pilot or Guard and no eyewitness establishing that the deceased had been walking on the track.

The approximate time of death recorded in the post-mortem report could not establish the precise time or manner of the accident, nor could the time at which the body was discovered rule out a fall from a train during the intervening night.

Since the respondent neither alleged nor proved any exception under the proviso to Section 124-A, the surrounding circumstances established both bona fide passenger status and death in an untoward incident.

The matter was remanded to the Tribunal to assess the compensation payable in accordance with law and to direct disbursement within two months of receiving the judgment.

The matter was directed to be listed before the Tribunal on 15 September 2026.