Vadodara: Pulling up the Western Railways for its ‘careless behaviour’, the additional Vadodara district consumer disputes redressal forum has ordered it to pay Rs 6.3 lakh compensation to the family of a 60-year-old man who died of heart attack after boarding the train in 2013.
Mahanarayan Pandey, a manager with a private firm in Ankleshwar, had suffered a massive cardiac arrest soon after boarding the Firozpur Janta Express in August 2013 at Vadodara railway station.
When his demanded compensation on the grounds that the station master did halt the train nor helped the victim get immediate medical attention, the Western Railways instead defended itself stating that “it is not the duty of the railways to provide medical aid”.
WR authorities argued the court said that the victim “did not pull the chain to stop the train nor did he make any attempts to get out of the train when the train was halted at Vadodara railway station”!
“The authorities could have signalled the train not to depart or halt it at Vishwamitri railway station. Instead they asked the deputy station superintendent of Miyagam Karjan railway station to attend to the victim,” said P V Moorjani, who argued for Pandey’s kin. As the train reached Miyagam Karjan railway station 35 minutes later, Pandey already succumbed to the attack.
The railways said they were gracious enough to keep a ‘courtesy’ first aid facility with the guard in every train and at every station that passengers can avail.
These arguments irked the redressal forum which rapped the WR for its callous statements and attitude. “It is unfortunate for us to hear such types of arguments on behalf of the railways,” it said, adding that the arguments reflect the “careless behaviour of the (railway) authority”.
The court asked the railways to pay a compensation of Rs 6.3 lakh along with 7% interest and additional Rs 10,000 as litigation expenses.
“The station master said that his responsibility got over when he informed the Miyagam Karjan railway station. But the court came down heavily on him and said that there is negligence on the railways’ part,” Moorjani added.