Karnataka HC condones delay, asks Railways tribunal to reconsider compensation claim
BENGALURU: Condoning the delay of nearly 16 months in approaching the Railway Claims Tribunal for compensation by a village family, whose member died in a 2016 railway accident in Kalaburagi, the Karnataka High Court remitted the case to the Tribunal to consider on merits, in accordance with the law.
The court said the Tribunal can consider the claim application after receiving evidence from both parties, and dispose of it within a period of six months.
“When the wife and mother are residing in a village, being rustic and semi-literate persons and do not have knowledge of worldly affairs, it is quite natural for some delay to occur... Therefore, the Tribunal ought to have considered the claim application in a positive and magnanimous way.
The approach of the Tribunal in dismissing the claim application only on the ground of delay is not correct and liable to be set aside... the delay in preferring the claim application is hereby condoned,” said Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar.
The order was passed recently while allowing the appeal filed by Renuka and other family members of the deceased, Basavaraj, questioning the Tribunal order dated March 21, 2018, dismissing their claim on grounds of delay. On July 8, 2016, Basavaraj, travelling from Kalaburagi to Nalwar station, had died in a railway accident.
The applicants, who are the mother, wife and children of the deceased, filed a claim application for compensation. However, the Tribunal dismissed the application only due to a delay of 472 days in filing the claim, saying it was barred by limitation.
The court noted that the delay can be considered in a positive and magnanimous way considering judicial notice of the status and living conditions of the applicants, who have lost their breadwinner. When a breadwinner dies, the life of the applicant becomes miserable with mental agony, hardship, inconvenience and financial constraints. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for the applicants to approach the Tribunal and file the claim application when their very existence is a struggle, the court said.