A tribunal instead of a civil court: the forum behind the Rs 8 lakh railway compensation ruling

Background

This background goes with the Jharkhand High Court's award of Rs 8 lakh to a family whose claim the Railway Claims Tribunal had dismissed. The Tribunal is set up under the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, and claims for compensation arising from railway accidents and untoward incidents go to it instead of a civil court. An appeal from its order lies to the High Court under Section 23(1) of the same Act, which is the route the Jharkhand case took. Compensation amounts are fixed by the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules, 1990. The Railway Passengers (Manner of Investigation of Untoward Incidents) Rules, 2003 govern how such an incident is investigated, and Rule 13 requires the Divisional Railway Manager's report, whose absence weighed against the Railways in that case.