‘It is a systemic failure’: Madhya Pradesh High Court holds Railways liable for deaths of 3 on tracks

“Contributory negligence or unauthorised entry alone does not automatically absolve the railway administration of liability, unless the case falls within the exceptions provided viz. suicide, self-inflicted injury, own criminal act, intoxication, or natural cause,” the court said while hearing three connected appeals.

In 2011, a train passing through Maihar Railway Station hit three, including two women and a three-year-old child, who died on the spot while crossing the railway lines.

The high court directed the Railway Claims Tribunal, Bhopal, to award compensation to the families of victims in accordance with the applicable rules.

The railway, relying on the Divisional Railway Manager’s report, argued that it was a case of violation of railway rules. It contended that claimants are not entitled to any compensation since the deceased were crossing the railway lines unauthorisedly to reach another platform when they got hit by the train.

The Railway Claims Tribunal had earlier in 2016 dismissed the claims of the families, pointing out that the victims were not train passengers and that their families did not prove the accident to be an untoward one.

Reversing the order, the high court noted that the railway failed to provide effective preventive measures and said, “administration cannot escape from liability on the ground that the victim crossed unauthorisedly.”