3. The Railway Claims Tribunal rejected the claim of the appellants solely on the ground that the deceased did not hold a valid travel ticket and any such travel ticket was not retrieved during the investigation by the Police or by the Railway Authority. The Apex Court held that if the valid travel ticket was unable to be retrieved from the place of occurrence and the accident occurred within the premises of the Railway, then the Railway has to establish that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger. The Apex Court in its unambiguous terms held that mere loss of railway ticket or non-retrievable of travel ticket is not a ground to decline the compensation to the claimants. Keeping the principles laid down by the Apex Court in mind, the facts as established in the present case is to be considered for deciding the appeal on hand. The F.I.R was registered and the nature of injuries were also recorded. The Inquest Report/Ex.A2 also reveals that the accident occurred due to the fact that the deceased had fallen down from the running train. The final report/Ex.A4 states that the accident occurred due to falling down of the deceased from the running train. The Death Certificate is also enclosed. The Divisional Railway Manager report also reveals that the journey ticket was not available. Therefore, the burden must be shifted on the Railways to establish that the deceased was not a bona fide passenger. When the factum regarding the death was established and further the death occurred due to the accident happened nearby the railway track and the injuries are also found, then the Railways have to establish that whether the deceased was a bona fide passenger or not. Contrarily, the burden cannot be shifted on the claimants, who filed an application. Many probabilities cannot be ruled out. The tickets would have lost while falling down or taking the person to the hospital or while conducting post-mortem or otherwise. When all these probabilities are available, the Courts are adopted such pragmatic approach so as to ensure the benefit of welfare legislation is extended to the claimants. Thus, mere non-availability of a ticket or non-retrievable of the ticket by the Investigation Authority could not be a ground to decline the compensation to the claimants, for which, otherwise they are entitled.
