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Bombay HC Rules Railway Victim Was Bona Fide Passenger, Awards ₹4 Lakh Compensation To Family

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Mumbai: In a significant ruling reinforcing the rights of train accident victims, the Bombay High Court has held that a commuter who died in a railway mishap in 2012 was a bona fide passenger, even though no ticket was found on him.

The court directed the Union of India to pay his family Rs 4 lakh compensation with 6% annual interest, subject to a total cap of Rs 8 lakh, to be divided equally among the four legal heirs.

Justice Jitendra Jain, on October 7, allowed the appeal filed by Vijay Gondake’s wife and children, while setting aside the Railway Claims Tribunal’s order. On January 31, 2018, the tribunal rejected their claim holding that the deceased was not a genuine passenger, citing the absence of a ticket and the claim that he was trespassing on the tracks when hit by a train.

The deceased, a government employee working in the Post Office, was travelling home from Grant Road to Shahad via Dadar on October 29, 2012, when he fell between Kanjurmarg and Bhandup stations. He succumbed to his injuries a few days later, on November 4, 2012. His family sought Rs 4 lakh in compensation, but the tribunal dismissed their plea, terming the death an act of “negligence”.

Disagreeing with the tribunal, Justice Jain said, “It is incomprehensible that a government employee would be travelling to his workplace and back home without any ticket.”

He added that the deceased’s wife had clearly deposed that he held a monthly pass, and the minor inconsistency in using the words “ticket” and “pass” could not discredit her testimony.

“The phrases ’monthly pass’ and ‘ticket’ are used interchangeably in Mumbai and when in the cross-examination it is stated that he was having a second class ticket, it cannot be inferred that he was travelling without ticket,” the court said.

The judge also questioned the Station Master’s report, which claimed the man was hit by a train while trespassing. “If there are no eye witnesses, then how could the Station Master have certified that he was hit by an unknown train while trespassing?” the court asked, noting the absence of any statement from the motorman or medical expert.

Calling the tribunal’s findings “perverse,” the HC concluded that the deceased had indeed fallen from a moving train, an “untoward incident” under the Railway Act.

The court directed the Railways to deposit the compensation within eight weeks of receiving the appellants’ bank details.

Crime

Haryana IPS suicide: Punjab Scheduled Caste panel seeks report from Chandigarh DGP

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Chandigarh, Oct 11: The Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission on Saturday took suo moto notice in the suicide case of Haryana’s ADGP Y. Puran Kumar in Chandigarh and sought a report from the Chandigarh Director General of Police.

Commission Chairman Jasvir Singh Garhi said this matter has come to his notice through the media, on which he has taken action and he has instructed the Director General of Police of Chandigarh to submit a report regarding this matter and the action taken so far on the suicide note and the complaint given by his wife Amneet Kaur through an ADGP-level officer to the commission on October 13.

Also, the Scheduled Castes Commission Chairman will visit the victim’s family’s house on October 13.

Meanwhile, Jai Narayan, a spokesperson for the 31-member committee for justice for Puran Kumar, told the media here that they formed this 31-member committee on Friday to sustain the movement across all over Haryana with key members from various regions.

“The government has not conducted any meaningful investigation, and we demand that at the very least, those responsible be terminated; only then will the post-mortem be performed,” he said.

Meanwhile, protests were held in Rohtak, demanding arrest of the accused in the suicide case. Inspector General of Puran Kumar, who allegedly shot himself dead at his Chandigarh residence on October 7 with his service revolver, left behind a “final note”.

The victim’s spouse, Amneet P. Kumar, a Haryana cadre senior bureaucrat, in a letter to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has sought justice for her husband.

The letter, marked urgent and confidential, two days ago expressed anguish over what she described as a “grave injustice” and “complete administrative inaction” even after more than 48 hours of her husband’s death.

In a nine-page “suicide note”, Puran Kumar reportedly accused nine serving IPS officers of the Haryana Police, a retired IPS officer and three retired IAS officers of “caste-based discrimination”.

The serving officers included DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya.

Meanwhile, the government has removed Bijarniya from his post and has been replaced by Surinder Singh Bhoria as the Superintendent of Police of Rohtak.

No posting has been given to Bijarniya as of now. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the wife of late Haryana IPS officer, saying the incident “reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of discriminatory attitude”.

“The passing away of Mr Y Puran Kumar reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of the discriminatory attitude and the preconceived notions of the powers that be. Crores of Indians stand with you in your fight for justice,” she wrote.

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Mumbai Press Exclusive News

Crores of rupees were defrauded in the name of government jobs, the accused was arrested from Delhi… The accused had received money from hundreds of unemployed people

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Mumbai: The Mumbai Economic Wing has claimed to have arrested the accused in a case of cheating in the name of getting government jobs in the central and state governments in several districts of Maharashtra. Santosh Ganpat, a businessman from Navi Mumbai, filed a complaint that the accused Nilesh Kanshi Ram Rathore had charged him Rs 5 lakh for a government job and Rs 5 to 15 lakh for medical tests and appointment letters. The EOW has registered a case against him because he has cheated him of Rs 2.88 crore by promising him a job and during the investigation it was revealed that he has cheated him of Rs 10 crore. The Economic Wing has formed a team to arrest the absconding accused and searched him in Akola and other areas. The accused cheated hundreds of youths for recruitment in RCF in 2022. His complaint was filed with the EOW. The EOW received information that the accused was trying to escape from Delhi, on which the police arrested him from Delhi. The accused has been booked in Mumbai EOW and Pune Deccan. A criminal case has been registered and further investigation is underway. This operation has been carried out under the leadership of EOW chief Nisht Mishra.

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Mumbai Press Exclusive News

ANC action, drugs worth crores seized, 6 arrested

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Mumbai: The Anti-Narcotics Cell has claimed to have arrested six drug smugglers, including a Nigerian, including a Nigerian, including MD and Natropum tablets worth Rs 7.01 crore, during operations at various locations in Mumbai. 523 grams of cocaine, worth Rs 5.23 crore, was seized from a Nigerian in Vakola, Mumbai. Five accused were arrested in raids conducted in Ghatkopar, Kurla CST, Mazgaon, tardeo, Borivali areas, from whose possession Mephedone MD worth Rs 54.65 lakh was seized. These are part of five inter-state drug gangs. Other drugs including Natropum tablets were also seized in this operation. This operation was carried out by DCP Nunath Dhule on the instructions of the Mumbai Police Commissioner.

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