The Bombay High Court has held that minor discrepancies in a passenger’s name on railway documents cannot be used to deny compensation in accident cases.
The case arose after the Railway Claims Tribunal rejected a family’s compensation claim despite accepting that the death occurred in a railway accident. The tribunal pointed to a mismatch between the name on the deceased’s season ticket and identity card, along with doubts about the claimants’ relationship with the victim.
However, the High Court disagreed with this reasoning. It observed that when other evidence clearly establishes identity, small differences in names, such as spelling variations or abbreviations should not defeat a legitimate claim. The court also noted that the identification numbers on the documents matched, indicating they belonged to the same person.
Setting aside the tribunal’s decision, the High Court directed that the case be reconsidered. It instructed the tribunal to re-evaluate the evidence, particularly regarding the claimants’ relationship with the deceased, and to grant compensation if the claim is found valid.
The ruling underscores that technical errors should not override substantive justice, especially in cases involving compensation for accident victims.
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