Railway Claims Tribunal Unjustified In Withholding Interest On Compensation From Date Of Accident Till Delay Condonation: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court recently observed that the Railway Claims Tribunal erred in withholding interest on compensation payable to a bereaved family, for the period between the date of accident and the date on which the application for delay in making a claim before the Tribunal was allowed.Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava observed, “The Tribunal has awarded maximum amount of compensation as per Rules but withholding interest from the date of accident to the date of condonation of delay is not justified under law. Therefore, the appellants are held entitled for simple interest @ 9 % per annum from the date of accident i.e. 25/26.02.2018 till the date of actual payment.”The claimants had preferred an appeal under Section 23 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 challenging alleged inadequacy of the award on account of death of Sankh Nath Dubey in an accidental fall from the train. The Tribunal had awarded a compensation amounting Rs.8 lakhs to the three Appellants, widow and two sons, and had granted interest at a rate of 6% from the date of condonation of delay, i.e., March 17, 2021.The Counsel for the appellants contended that interest rate should be enhanced and be calculated from the date of accident itself i.e. 25/26.02.2018 instead of 17.03.2021 i.e. from the date of admission of the application after condonation of delay.Counsel appearing for the Railway opposed the plea and submitted that the claim petition was admitted for hearing belatedly due to appellants and hence, they would not be entitled to interest from the date of incident.The Court observed that the Tribunal, upon careful perusal had deemed the reasons provided for the delay sufficient for condonation. It relied on the case of Rathi Menon v Union of India (2001) whereby Apex Court held, “reference to the expression “pay compensation as to such extent as may be prescribed” indicated that the right to claim compensation from the railway administration would be acquired by the injured from the date of said incident.”The Court also referred to the case of Union of India v Rina Devi (2019) whereby the Supreme Court held that in absence of specific statutory provision, interest can be awarded from the date of accident itself, when the liability of the Railways arises up to the date of payment, without any difference in the stages. Appearance:For the Appellant/s : Mr. Krishna Mohan Murari, Adv., Mr. Ganesh Ram, Adv. For the UOI : Mr. Awanish Ranjan Mishra, CGCCase No.: M.A. No.226 of 2022Case Title: Pratima Devi v Union of India LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 9Click here to Read/ Download Judgment

Railway Claims Tribunal Unjustified In Withholding Interest On Compensation From Date Of Accident Till Delay Condonation: Jharkhand High Court

Bhavya Singh

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